The Washington State Patrol arrested 452 suspected DUI drivers in the two counties between Nov. 24 and Jan. 2, according to Trooper Guy Gill.
Of those, 81 were made near Thanksgiving, 40 the weekend of Dec. 8, and 17 between 8 p.m. Dec. 31 and 3 a.m. Jan. 1.
A push during Thurston County’s first Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over DUI campaign Nov. 21-Jan. 1 resulted in 119 arrests, according to the Washington Traffic Safety Commission.
Officers from the State Patrol, Thurston County Sheriff’s Office and Olympia, Yelm, Tenino, Tumwater, Chehalis Tribal and Nisqually Tribal police departments participated in the emphasis patrols.
Thurston County’s Target Zero program supported the emphasis and tracked 11 made by agencies other than the State Patrol participating in local holiday patrols between Nov. 24 and Dec. 22.
The same holiday emphasis resulted in 24 DUI arrests in 2010 and eight in 2011, figures show.
“We hope, as always, to get more involvement from the group collectively to have a multi-jurisdictional team patrolling throughout the county for emphasis patrols,” according to Jerry Noviello, Target Zero manager.
Target Zero will have another DUI emphasis patrol the week of St. Patrick’s Day. There also will be a Click it or Ticket seatbelt enforcement patrol in the last two weeks of May and another DUI emphasis June 21-July 7.
The final DUI emphasis, Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over, will be from Aug. 16-Sept. 2.
The emphasis patrols are paid for through a Traffic Safety Commission grant. Participating officers usually are on overtime.
Chelsea Krotzer: 360-754-5476
ckrotzer@theolympian.com
theolympian.com/thisjustin
@chelseakrotzer
