State Police Renew Initiative Aimed at Arresting Intoxicated Drivers

First Year of Program Results in 2,442 DUI Arrests by Troopers

HARRISBURG, Pa., Oct. 7 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A program that has led to more than 2,400 arrests for driving under the influence during the past 12 months will continue for another year, Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Frank E. Pawlowski said today.

"The Checkpoint Strikeforce Initiative was instituted last October as a one-year program to reduce crashes, prevent injuries and save lives by identifying and arresting impaired drivers on our roads," Pawlowski said. "The results achieved to date make it worthwhile to continue the program."

Under the initiative, each of the 15 regional state police troops conducts a random sobriety checkpoint within its troop area every weekend. In the event of inclement weather, the troop conducts roving DUI patrols rather than a checkpoint.

Pawlowski said troopers made 1,574 DUI arrests as the direct result of checkpoints and 868 DUI arrests as the result of roving patrols conducted under the initiative.

He said the checkpoint locations are determined by commanders based on up-to-date crash data collected by the department's PROphecy computer system and other sources.

"We focus our attention on areas that have experienced a high number of DUI-related crashes," said Pawlowski, who noted that state police made a record 16,156 DUI arrests in 2008.

He said the enforcement effort is supported by federal funding obtained through the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

  For more information, visit www.psp.state.pa.us or call 717-783-5556.

  Media contacts: Jack J. Lewis or Lt. Myra A. Taylor, 717-783-5556

Editor's Note: Following is a breakdown, by troop area, of the number of DUI arrests made under the first year of the Checkpoint Strikeforce Initiative:

  --  Troop A (Cambria, Indiana, Somerset and Westmoreland counties), 196
      arrests;
  --  Troop B (Allegheny, Fayette, Greene and Washington counties), 230
      arrests;
  --  Troop C (Clarion, Clearfield, Forest, Elk, Jefferson and McKean
      counties), 95 arrests;
  --  Troop D (Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Lawrence and Mercer counties), 215
      arrests;
  --  Troop E (Crawford, Erie, Venango and Warren counties), 126 arrests;
  --  Troop F (Cameron, Clinton, Lycoming, Montour, Northumberland, Potter,
      Snyder, Union and Tioga counties), 91 arrests;
  --  Troop G (Bedford, Blair, Centre, Fulton, Huntingdon, Juniata and
      Mifflin counties), 103 arrests;
  --  Troop H (Adams, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Perry and York
      counties), 269 arrests;
  --  Troop J (Chester and Lancaster counties), 267 arrests;
  --  Troop K (Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties), 191 arrests;
  --  Troop L (Berks, Lebanon and Schuylkill counties), 111 arrests;
  --  Troop M (Bucks, Lehigh and Northampton counties), 181 arrests;
  --  Troop N (Carbon, Columbia, Monroe and part of Luzerne counties), 108
      arrests;
  --  Troop P (Bradford, Sullivan, Wyoming and part of Luzerne counties),
      103 arrests;

  --  Troop R (Lackawanna, Pike, Susquehanna and Wayne counties), 156
      arrests.