By BOB GIBBINS
Staff Writer
TAHLEQUAH —
People in and around Tahlequah on the Labor Day weekend can expect to see a large number of city, county and state law enforcement officers sharing the streets.
Police Chief Clay Mahaney announced earlier this month he will have additional officers on the streets. His officers will also be working with other agencies, looking for aggressive and drinking drivers as part of a “Drunk Driving... Over the Limit... Under Arrest” campaign.
The initiative actually started Aug. 20, but continues through the coming weekend.
Mahaney intends to have officers out working overtime shifts in addition to the typical patrol shifts.
Cherokee County Sheriff Norman Fisher said his staff will be out and paying extra attention to high traffic areas like Lake Tenkiller and the Illinois River.
“We know there is always a lot of people in and around Tahlequah during that weekend,” Fisher said. “The Cherokee National Holiday brings in a big crowd and the fact that it’s traditionally thought of as the last big weekend of the summer will bring people out to the lake and river.”
The sheriff said his biggest concern is that people enjoy themselves, but do it safely.
Oklahoma Highway Patrol Capt. Mike Harrell said earlier this month that OHP troopers will be working highway safety shifts. He said traffic deaths due to drinking drivers dropped from 2007 to 2008.
“They’re still too high,” he said. “For this reason, the OHP will join thousands of law enforcement agencies across the country in support of an intensive crackdown against impaired drivers.”
Harrell said nearly 12,000 people died across the nation in 2008 in crashes wherein a driver or motorcycle rider was at or above the legal limit of intoxication.
He said 32 percent of all fatalities in vehicle crashes involve an impaired driver and an average of one drunk driving crashes occurs every 45 minutes.
He said the risks increase for the youngest drivers, ages 16-24.
“Impaired driving is not an ‘accident,’ it is a crime,” Harrell said
“Law enforcement is committed to reduce the carnage by intensifying enforcement during this crackdown that will continue through the Labor Day holiday travel period.”
Area law enforcement officers will increase traffic enforcement activities during this time with an emphasis on speeding and collision causing violations, restraint enforcement and vigilance during high-risk times for impaired driving to reduce the risk of crashes for all.
