Roving Patrols by State Police Result in DUI Arrests

Although their DUI checkpoint on Rt. 611 had to be cut short for “operational reasons,” Pennsylvania State Police at Belfast still had a busy night out on patrol in Northampton County Friday.

In a news release Monday, police said the checkpoint was set up in the 2100 block of S. Delaware Drive in Williams Township; an area where there is currently a detour in place due to a road closure that began when it was damaged by the remnants of Hurricane Ida.

While STEAD-D (Selective Traffic Enforcement Against Drunk Drivers) Sobriety Checkpoint was operational between 10 p.m. Friday and 12:30 a.m. Saturday, police said 10 drivers were contacted, with no enforcement action taken as a result of the contacts.

After the checkpoint was dismantled, troopers conducted roving patrols which resulted in 51 operator contacts, the news release indicated. Police said that as a result of those patrols, they made three DUI arrests, served one arrest warrant, and issued 43 traffic citations and 27 written warnings.

Police often conduct sobriety checkpoints during the holiday season, when celebrations involving alcohol are common and thus drunk driving is more prevalent, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

According to the NHTSA, “during the New Year’s and Christmas periods in 2018 there were 285 drunk-driving-related fatalities,” all of which were preventable.

Pennsylvania DUI Association data indicates that in 2019 there were 86 crashes involving alcohol at Christmas, with two deaths that occurred as a result. That year there were also 52 pre-Christmas alcohol-related crashes, according to PaDUI.org data.