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Published on Saturday, December 20, 2003
in the Orlando Sentinel
This holiday season, police officers and deputy sheriffs in Central Florida are not waiting at roadblocks to nab motorists who drink and drive.
Instead of using those checkpoints, law-enforcement agencies will rely on roving patrols that target highways and other thoroughfares as part of a six-week state campaign to cut down on fatal alcohol-related accidents around the holidays.
And agencies are not going only after drunken motorists. They will be on the lookout for aggressive and reckless drivers and any other traffic violators.
On Friday about four dozen officers from six counties in Central Florida joined representatives from Mothers Against Drunk Drivers and the "You Drink & Drive. You Lose" state initiative to warn the public about their operation. They met at the Florida Highway Patrol's Orlando office.
"It's not our goal to put a damper on anyone's celebrations . . . but rather to prevent injuries," said Charles Kelly, a reserve police officer for the Port Orange Police Department in Volusia County and a regional coordinator of the Buckle Up Florida's "You Drink & Drive" initiative.
The 71 law-enforcement agencies in the six counties are participating with support from state agencies.
FHP Trooper Kim Miller, the agency's spokeswoman in Central Florida, said so-called "wolfpack" patrols -- in which officers team up with other agencies to saturate roadways and catch traffic offenders -- are more efficient than road checkpoints. Some DUI violators and other traffic offenders easily avoided the roadblocks.
"That's the beauty of it," Miller said in reference to the saturation patrols. "If we stand there and wait for them to come to us, we're only going to get the dumb ones."
Miller said authorities hope to stem accidents by cracking down on impaired drivers and enforcing seat-belt laws and other traffic laws.
"We're catching the ones that are breaking the law," Miller said. "And we're more likely to get DUI offenders because we're not going to wait for them to come to us."
Laura Dean-Mooney, president of MADD's Central Florida chapter, urged anyone who drinks during the holidays to find a designated driver or call a cab.
"If you're going to drink, please enjoy yourself but please plan ahead," said Dean-Mooney, whose husband, Michael Dean, was killed by a drunken motorist in 1991.
After the news conference, Osceola County Deputy Sheriff Dominic Rodriguez joined dozens of his counterparts from other Central Florida agencies in tying a symbolic red MADD ribbon around their police motorcycles.
Rodriguez, who wore a black helmet, leather gloves, a microphone headset and dark sunglasses, said he was eager to return to the streets to enforce traffic laws.
The six-week operation is not unique.
On Friday the Altamonte Springs Police Department began a weeklong traffic crackdown on State Road 436. The goal is to have an officer at every intersection.
"This is the start of the last weekend of Christmas," said Officer Eric Wels, spokesman for the department. "That's when the big holiday rush is."
That's when more people are on the road and more crashes occur, Wels said. Every day until next Saturday, Wels' department and the Seminole County Sheriff's Office will have more officers and deputies on S.R. 436 -- also known as Semoran Boulevard -- on the lookout for traffic violators, Wels said.
Annually more than 1,000 people die in alcohol-related accidents on Florida's roadways.
Last year 33 people were killed statewide between midnight Dec. 31 and midnight Jan. 1, 2003. Seven of those were alcohol-related. Another 19 motorists died during the Christmas period between Dec. 24 and Dec. 25, and 49 were killed during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
"The last thing we want to do is knock on someone's door and tell them that a loved one is not going to be home for the holidays," Miller said.