Bristol Police Get A Hand To Combat DWI

Dec. 01--BRISTOL -- Bolstered by a federal grant, city police have begun their holiday season campaign against drunken driving.

Extra patrols were on the streets for the night before Thanksgiving as well as the holiday itself, and more are scheduled for Christmas and New Year's.

In addition, police periodically will be staffing checkpoints at high-traffic areas throughout the year.

"Particularly during the holidays we see a lot more DWIs, so we've started our extra patrols already," Chief Thomas Grimaldi said.

Each year, Bristol applies for National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration funding to pay for hiring extra officers on overtime to run checkpoints and special anti-DWI patrols. The grants are administered through the state transportation department, which notified Bristol that it will get $201,075 to pay for a campaign that began in October and runs through next September.

In 2011-12, Bristol officers made a total of 458 arrests and traffic citations through the program. In addition to drunken driving charges, that includes speeding tickets, drug arrests, seatbelt and cell phone citations and other charges. In 2012-13, the campaign resulted in 709 arrests and tickets.

"We had a very productive year, and it was really an entire departmentwide effort," Grimaldi said. "The numbers illustrate that."

Using figures compiled from previous years, the traffic division assigns checkpoints and extra patrols to spots that statistically are likeliest to have intoxicated motorists driving past. At checkpoints, officers stop cars in a set pattern -- either every one, or on a system such as every fourth or fifth one -- and quickly check for apparent signs of drunken driving. Those checkpoints can be set up on any night, and advance warning are sent out to local newspapers to put everyone on notice.

"By law, we post it in the paper to let people know," Grimaldi said. "Enforcement is a big part of this, but awareness means a lot too. We want to make motorists aware of the drinking-and-driving problem, and let them know we're out there."

Extra patrols are set out in spare cruisers at times and places where statistics show drunken driving is most common. In addition to Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, Memorial Day, July 4th and Labor Day, Bristol often deploys extra patrols on Super Bowl night and similar times when risks are higher than usual. Those officers don't answer routine calls; instead, they patrol high-traffic streets and look for cars weaving or meandering, driving unusually slow or fast, or showing other signs that often indicate an intoxicated driver, Grimaldi said.

In a recent memo, Lt. Edward Spyros, commander of the traffic division, broke down the results of the 2012-13 campaign. Officers charged 44 drivers with DWI, 23 with seatbelt violations, 50 for driving with suspended licenses, 35 for driving without insurance, 331 with speeding, three for not using child car seats, three with reckless driving, 17 with drug possession, 26 with illegal cell phone use, two with distracted driving and 168 with various motor vehicle violations.

In addition, officers made three felony arrests and apprehended four people wanted on previous warrants, Spyros reported. Officers issued warnings to 17 drivers for failing to use seatbelts, and to 295 for speeding, Spyros said in his report to Capt. Brian Gould.

Grimaldi noted that Mothers Against Drunk Driving gave commendations to three Bristol officers this year: Craig Duquette, Dan Colavolpe and Rich Solnik.

"Even though our department is understaffed, our officers have really been working hard," he said.

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