Local News
The “saturation patrols” will begin Wednesday night.
Massachusetts State Police troopers and other law enforcement officers are preparing to crack down on impaired driving beginning Wednesday night.
Each of the MSP’s five geographic field troops will be deploying extra patrols on the evening shift Wednesday.
“The saturation patrols will seek and interdict drivers who are impaired or engaged in other dangerous driving behaviors,” police said in a statement.
Saturation patrols are simply times when police dispatch more officers to patrol a specific area and look for impaired drivers. These are meant to be well publicized, as the goal is to “increase the perceived likelihood that impaired driving will be identified and penalized, leading to a reduction in impaired driving,” according to the CDC.
The tactic is popular and has been found to be effective. A 2012–2014 survey of law enforcement agencies in the U.S. found that 98% of state, 89% of municipal, and 84% of county agencies conducted saturation patrols, according to the CDC. Rates of impaired driving have been found to be lower in areas where saturation patrols occur.
Impaired driving typically spikes during the days before and after Thanksgiving. In 2021, 190 people died nationally in alcohol-impaired driving crashes during the Thanksgiving holiday period, which lasts from Wednesday night through Sunday night. More than four times as many drivers involved in fatal crashes during this period were alcohol-impaired during the nighttime than during the day. Males accounted for more than 75% of the alcohol-impaired drivers, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
AAA projects that 55.4 million people will travel at least 50 miles from home over the Thanksgiving holiday period. This is an increase of 2.3% over last year. The organization projects that 49.1 million of those travelers will drive, a 1.7% increase compared to 2022.
The saturation patrols were announced at an event at the Seabrook, New Hampshire, rest area on I-95 North. MSP representatives were joined by members of the New Hampshire Department of Safety, New Hampshire Office of Highway Safety, New Hampshire State Police, Maine State Police, Seabrook police, and an advocate for victims of impaired driving crashes.
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