CITY OF JOHNSON CITY
JOHNSON CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT
NEWS RELEASE
Prepared By: | MPOII Allan Rutledge | Date: | 02/02/18 | Time: | 10:30am |
Subject: | DUI Enforcement Patrols | Approved By: | Chief Mark Sirois |
The Johnson City Police Department will be placing additional officers on the streets this Super Bowl LII weekend on the lookout for impaired drivers. These high visibility “saturation patrols” will be conducted all weekend in partnership with the Tennessee Highway Safety Office (THSO) Booze It and Lose It impaired-driving campaign. The THSO is providing grant overtime funding for the JCPD to conduct these DUI saturation patrols aimed at removing impaired drivers from city streets.
The JCPD’s intensified DUI enforcement efforts have resulted in 29 DUI arrests over the last five years of Super Bowl weekends. The Department also recorded five impaired-driving crashes, each of which resulted in occupant injuries.
The JCPD reminds everyone that buzzed driving is drunk driving. Getting behind the wheel after even just one too many drinks can lead to disaster. Although Tennessee’s legal blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limit is .08, even a slight alcoholic “buzz” that’s well below legal limits can be unsafe for drivers and can lead to their arrest for impaired driving. The JCPD would like to encourage everyone to drink responsibly and to designate a sober driver if they plan to consume alcohol this Super Bowl weekend.
Grant is funded by the Tennessee Highway Safety Office.