The Hays Police Department and Ellis County Sheriff’s Department released their results from the “You Drink, You Drive, You Lose” driving under the influence enforcement campaign, which ran from Aug. 14 to Sept. 1.
“What it allows us to do is get additional officers out on the street, solely focusing on arresting and removing drunk drivers from the roadways,” said Sgt. Mitchell Berens, one of the participating officers from the Hays Police Department. “And that’s their only responsibility during this campaign when they’re out doing that. Their main focus is DUIs, identifying those individuals, arresting them, and getting them off the street. It just puts more man-power out there focusing on that one violation.”
From the Hays Police Department, the results were 11 DUI arrests, 3 Minor in Possession of Alcohol arrests, 2 Transporting Open Alcohol Container arrests, 1 Drug Possession arrest, and 1 Driving While Suspended arrest. Officers also wrote up 31 other traffic citations.
“Those are the notable misdemeanor arrests,” said Berens. “A DUI tends to lead to some other alcohol violations.”
The Ellis County Sheriff’s Department made 24 stops, wrote 1 DUI arrest, 16 warnings, and 6 other citations.
The Hays Police Department encourages individuals to call SafeRide or find a designated driver to get them home safely if they plan on going out and drinking.
“It’s a huge benefit having SafeRide out there getting individuals to and from bars without those individuals having to drive,” said Berens. “It just gives people an opportunity to get home safely without having to drive. And of course, it’s free to the public. There’s no question that that program has helped reduce the number of drunk drivers. But they’re still out there, and so the work must go on.”
The Hays Police Department would like to remind individuals that driving drunk is not just enforced throughout the “You Drink. You Drive. You Lose.” campaign, and officers will enforce the law all year round.
“If somebody suspects somebody of driving drunk, they certainly need to call the police department from that end and try to provide as much information as possible about the vehicle, the driver, direction of travel, and what they’re doing that makes you believe they might be under the influence,” said Berens. “A key factor is what kind of indications they are giving that lead you to believe that they might be under the influence.”
SafeRide is available Wednesday through Saturday, from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. You can call SafeRide at (785) 621-3580. Remember to call the police if you suspect drunk driving.