The Evansville-Vanderburgh County Traffic Safety Partnership will conduct a sobriety checkpoint this Friday, March 18, 2016 from 11:30 pm until 3:00 am. Law enforcement officers from the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office and the Evansville Police Department will join together to conduct this checkpoint along with saturation patrols planned for St. Patrick’s Day and throughout the weekend.
The location for Friday’s checkpoint was chosen based on local traffic collision data. Analysis of data captured in March of 2015 indicated that several geographical areas within Vanderburgh County accounted for a disproportionately high number of reported hit and run crashes. The upcoming checkpoint will be located within one of those areas. Hit and run crashes are often the result of impaired drivers who try to avoid arrest by fleeing the scene.
The upcoming checkpoint and saturation patrols are part of a statewide effort to curb aggressive and dangerous driving. This high-visibility enforcement effort, known as Operation Pull Over Blitz #85, began on Friday, March 04 and will continue through Sunday, March 27.
The Evansville-Vanderburgh County Traffic Safety Partnership conducts sobriety checkpoints in an effort to detect and deter impaired drivers (thereby reducing the occurrence of alcohol and drug related traffic crashes). Funding for local sobriety checkpoint operations is provided by the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute (ICJI) through a grant from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
Previous News Release: 2016-NR-013