DPS Completes First “
Seasonal Crackdown” Enhancing Summer Safety
JEFFERSON CITY, August 1, 2006-Director of Public Safety
Mark James announced a special tri-agency enforcement operation involving
Water Patrol (MSWP), Highway Patrol (MSHP) and Alcohol and Tobacco
Control (ATC) over this past weekend in Osage and Camden Counties.
“The primary objective of our “Seasonal
Crackdown” is to create a safe environment by curbing the numbers
of drunk drivers, underage drinkers and unsafe boaters during the
summer season,” James said. “There will continue to be
visible stringent and regular enforcement operations conducted by
our law enforcement officers all over the state.”
The enforcement operation targeted people partying
on the lake, and at bars, hotels and parking lots. The coordinated
effort included: fixed sobriety checkpoints; roving saturation patrols
to combat aggressive driving and speed on roads and waterways; and
checking for fake ID to fight underage drinking.
Over a three to five hour period the law enforcement
officers reported the following: MSHP 57 total arrest; MSWP 25 arrest
with one in every five boats stopped received a boating while intoxicated
ticket; and ATC 9 arrests. The reports are attached.
According to data analyzed by The Kansas City Star
Missouri’s Lake of the Ozarks is the third most dangerous body
of water in the country. Alcohol is a major factor in recreational
boating casualties. Not only does alcohol impair judgment, vision,
reactions and balance, it can have even more severe effects in hot
weather.