Police plan roadblocks during Easter weekend

The police department is committed to reducing the number of injuries and deaths in the city of McMinnville and the state due to impaired drivers.

The roadblocks and saturated patrols will be held today, Saturday and Sunday. While the saturated patrols will be conducted throughout the city, the DUI checkpoints will be set up on Highway 56 and Old Smithville Road.

Police officers maintain the emphasis is not to catch drunk drivers behind the wheel. It’s to get the word out that police will have a much greater presence and to deter impaired drivers from ever getting behind the wheel in the first place.

‘Since we’ve been doing this, we’ve had no accidents related to DUIs during the time of our saturated patrols,’ said McMinnville Police Sgt. Mark Mara. ‘The program is working. It’s working here and it’s working statewide.’

Officers will be actively pursuing impaired drivers by patrolling the streets and conducting traffic stops. Officers are trained to administer field sobriety tests to determine if a driver is impaired.

By removing intoxicated drivers from the roads, McMinnville Police Department believes it can decrease the potential for motor vehicle accidents. The patience and cooperation of all motorists this weekend will help make the highways safer for all drivers and passengers, local officers say.