New Jersey DWI Lawyer Blog
Results from a two-week drunk driving sting operation show that more than 1,500 individuals were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol between August 21 and September 7. The “Over the Limit, Under Arrest” campaign was designed to snare DWI suspects in the weeks leading up to this past Labor Day holiday. As a New Jersey DWI defense lawyer, I and my colleagues represent many of the dozens of motorists accused every week of driving while intoxicated.
The latest report on that pre-Labor Day campaign shows that New Jersey law enforcement agencies all around the Garden State stopped and arrested 1,582 drunk-driving suspects, including 137 in Bergen County and 95 in Passaic County. According to news reports, Bergen County police officers also issued 1,973 summonses for speeding, while Passaic County issued 374 summonses for seat belt violations.
In East Rutherford, however, only two drunk driving arrests were made during the campaign, according to the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety, although the municipality did issue 74 summonses for speeding.
The pre-Labor Day campaign was funded by the highway safety division, which awarded $6,000 grants to almost half of the state’s 497 police agencies to cover overtime during the crackdown.
Elmwood Park, which had 15 drunken-driving arrests, more than any other Bergen or Passaic county municipality was on of the participants in the campaign. A local police spokesman for that municipality stated that the grant allowed police department to dedicate officers to roving the streets specifically for drunk-driving enforcement, in addition to those officers already on regular patrol.
The 15 arrests were “definitely higher than what we would normally get,” said Lt. Bryan DiPasquale of the Elmwood Park Police Department. Officers also issued 27 speeding summonses and 132 seat belt summonses.
DWI crackdown snares a slew of other violators, NorthJersey.com, November 17, 2009