From Thursday through Labor Day, law officers on both sides of the Kansas state line will target DUI offenders in an operation that authorities announced today.
Police from several agencies delivered the message today at a Kansas City, Kan., parking lot. They stood in front of a 26-foot trailer used to quickly set up checkpoints, which they promised would get plenty of use.
Federal grants pay states for police overtime for the enforcement efforts and the states distribute money to police. Police said that will let them go out in record numbers nationwide.
The Kansas Department of Transportation provided the trailer that police agencies can use, and Mission police have it now.
Mission Police Chief John Simmons said area police will use both DUI checkpoints and saturation patrols looking for drunken drivers and other offenders.
That van has lights to illuminate the surrounding area and holds cones and other equipment to quickly set up a checkpoint. DUI suspects will be breath tested at an adjacent trailer, police said.
Enforcement efforts are likely to be most intense from Wednesday through Saturday, they said.
Police also will stress personal responsibility, Simmons said.
“We want to ask people to think before they drive,” he said. “If they’re hosting a party, how are they going to get their guests home safely?”
The law’s constant battle against DUI is special, police say, because impaired driving kills almost 12,000 people a year.
Jill Kenney, an assistant Johnson County prosecutor and chief of the traffic unit there, said the state passed new laws this year that increase the penalty for DUI convictions.
Minimum fines for first-time DUIs increased from $500 to $750, she said, and police now have three hours instead of two to get blood, urine or breath tests.
Offenders face two days in jail and must have licenses suspended for a minimum of 30 days and then pay to get ignition interlocks, she said.
