Cape Girardeau County and Scott County receive DWI enforcement grants

Cape Girardeau, MO

Two local sheriff's departments are receiving grants that will help fund overtime and other expenses so they may focus on certain aspects of law enforcement that sometimes get overlooked in the day-to-day pace of regular duties.

The Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department submitted its application for a DWI Enforcement grant administered as part of the Missouri Department of Transportation's Highway Safety Division, said Capt. Ruth Ann Dickerson.

Also this week, the Scott County Sheriff's Department received for the first time a $10,000 endowment from the National Association of Drug Diversion, to be used in the ongoing battle against prescription drug abuse.

Cape Girardeau County has received the grant four years previously and will receive $8,390.76 in federal funds for added overtime hours so deputies can crack down on drunken driving, Dickerson said.

"It allows us to put officers on the streets above and beyond normal hours," she said.

The grant administrators will compile information telling officers in the county the highest percentage of alcohol related crashes have occurred in recent years, and those are the areas focused on, Dickerson said.

The funds received by Scott County will be split between overtime hours so investigators can work more of prescription drug cases, continuing education efforts involving health professions, educators and law enforcement, paying for controlled buys of prescription drugs so arrests can be made.

"We're very serious about doing what we can because of the problem with prescription drugs," said Scott County Sheriff Rick Walter.

The sheriff's department formed a prescription drug task force last year, with the Mississippi County Sheriff's Department, and along with Dr. Richard Logan, a Charleston, Mo., pharmacist and a reserve deputy for both departments, have hosted a series of "town meetings" to educate law enforcement and the public about the issue.

Scott County is the first Missouri law enforcement agency to be awarded these funds, stemming from restitution paid by a pharmaceutical company in an OxyContin lawsuit.

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Springfield, MO Police, sheriff plan weekend DWI effort

Springfield, MO

The Springfield Police Department and the Greene County Sheriff’s Department will put 25 officers on local roads the weekend to man driving-while-intoxicated checkpoints, the police department has announced.

The operation funded through a Missouri Department of Transportation grant will involve checkpoints where officers will check driver’s licenses and conduct further tests on drivers they believe to be intoxicated.

The department estimates drivers who produce a license and who have not been drinking will be delayed about three minutes.

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Dozen arrests made at DWI checkpoint in Greene County

Springfield, MO

A DWI checkpoint set up on East Sunshine Street netted a dozen arrests, reported Capt. Randy Gibson of the Greene County Sheriff's Department.
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The checkpoint was set up at the 3900 block of East Sunshine from 11 p.m. Saturday to 3 a.m. Sunday. Thirty-five off-duty deputies worked the area, paid by a grant from the Missouri Department of Transportation.

Gibson said the effort led to checks on 322 vehicles, eight arrests of those suspected of driving while intoxicated and two arrests related to drugs. There were also two arrests of people who had active warrants.

Officers wrote 12 tickets for traffic offenses.

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Five arrested for DWI in Stone County during weekend effort

Galena, MO

Five people were arrested for driving while intoxicated during a weekend enforcement effort in Stone County.

The Stone County Sheriff’s Department said in a news release that, in addition to the five DWI arrests Saturday, deputies made one drug arrest and two arrests for driving with a revoked license. Five people were arrested on outstanding warrants.

Deputies also issued issued three tickets for driving with a license, three tickets for driving without insurance and four tickets to minors in possession of alcohol.

The Saturday arrests occurred at a checkpoint on Missouri 13 north of Kimberling City, the news release said. The effort was funded with grants from the Missouri Department of Transportation’s Highway Safety Division and the Missouri Safety Center and is part of the “You Drink, You Drive, You Lose” campaign.

Friday the department issued two citations for possession of drug paraphernalia and two citations to minors in possession of alcohol.

Saturday morning, deputies worked with the Missouri Department of Conservation during a river patrol on the James River. During that effort two people were arrested for supplying alcohol to a minor, two minors were charged with possessing alcohol and one person was charged with possession of marijuana.

The release noted the sheriff’s department has received $16,684 in grants for additional enforcement of impaired driving.

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DWI checkpoint leads to several arrests in Greene County

Springfield, MO

The Greene County Sheriff's Department helped keep Springfield's streets safer this holiday weekend by conducting a DWI checkpoint Saturday night.

Thirty-five deputies stopped traffic at the 3900 block of east Sunshine between 11 p.m. Saturday and 3 a.m. Sunday.

Deputies made eight DWI arrests, two drug arrests, two active warrant arrests and ticketed twelve people for driving without a license.

The checkpoint was funded by a grant from the Missouri Department of Transportation.

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