JCPD NEWS RELEASE
SUBJECT: | DUI Enforcement | DATE: | 08/21/2020 | TIME: | 16:00 |
PREPARED BY: | Heather Brack | APPROVED BY: | Chief Karl Turner | ||
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JOHNSON CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT INCREASES IMPAIRED-DRIVING ENFORCEMENT
The Johnson City Police Department is partnering with the Tennessee Highway Safety Office (THSO) to place additional officers on the lookout for impaired drivers as part of the “Booze It and Lose It” campaign from August 21 to September 7, surrounding the Labor Day holiday. This initiative coincides with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” mobilization to increase impaired-driving enforcement nationwide.
The Johnson City Police Department (JCPD) reminds everyone that buzzed driving is drunk driving. Of the 451 injury crashes investigated by JCPD in 2019, 56 (12.4 percent) were alcohol-related. Working together, we can reduce crashes, injuries, and deaths on Johnson City roadways. JCPD and THSO want to remind all drivers that impaired-driving is not only illegal, it is a matter of life and death.
Increased state and national messaging about the dangers of drunk driving, coupled with high visibility enforcement efforts such as the efforts locally with JCPD, aim to drastically reduce the number of drunk-driving crashes, injuries, and fatalities this year.
The consequences of a single DUI conviction for a first-time offender in the state of Tennessee may include costly fines, court costs, legal fees, jail time, mandatory drug and alcohol treatment, and/or the installation of an ignition interlock device in his/her vehicle.
The THSO provides grant funding to support Johnson City Police Department’s increased enforcement efforts during the “Booze It and Lose It” campaign. For more information about the THSO, please visit www.tntrafficsafety.org.
###
