Police to be out in force

Motorists traveling through McMinnville should take notice and buckle up over Memorial Day weekend as police will be aggressively enforcing the seatbelt law while at the same time saturating the streets looking for drunk drivers.

?Instead of holding roadblocks, which can be effective but are limited to just a couple of areas, we thought saturating the streets with extra patrol officers who will be dedicated to traffic enforcement would be a more effective means of promoting public safety,? said McMinnville Police Sgt. Mark Mara. ?Our main objectives will be to catch those driving under the influence and to enforce the state?s seatbelt law.?

Mara said the extra officers will begin patrolling the streets of McMinnville today, with the higher manpower continuing through Monday.

?The best thing people can do is buckle up and make sure their passengers buckle up too, not only to avoid the possibility of a citation but also to make them safer in the case of a crash,? Mara said. ?It?s also important that people who are drinking over the Memorial weekend, or anytime for that matter, make sure to have a designated driver because drunk and impaired drivers are a threat to everyone, even themselves.?

The officers will be carrying on-scene breath-meters whereby they can determine the sobriety of motorists during traffic stops. Refusal to submit to such a test carries an automatic six month revocation of driving privileges under the implied consent law.

A first conviction for DUI carries mandatory jail time of at least 24 hours, a minimum $350 plus court costs fine, and a loss of driving privileges for one year.