mdonovan@heraldsun.com; 419-6655
DURHAM -- State and local law enforcement cited 3,514 motorists for driving while impaired during the Labor Day "Booze It & Lose It" campaign, which ran from Aug. 21 through Monday night.
A total of 105,370 traffic and criminal citations were issued statewide. That number included infractions such as speeding, reckless driving, driving while license revoked, uninsured motorists, driving with a suspended license and seat belt violations.
Locally, 34 DWI arrests, 371 criminal violations and a total of 1,690 traffic and criminal citations were issued in Durham County.
During the Governor's Highway Safety Program campaign, officers statewide conducted more than 10,500 sobriety checkpoints and dedicated patrols. Counties with the highest number of DWI citations were Wake (254), Mecklenburg (229) and Guilford (149). The DWI citations included drinking by drivers under 21.
Officers also issued 10,416 safety belt and 1,533 child passenger safety violations, 30,830 speeding violations and 1,819 drug charges. In addition, they apprehended 829 fugitives from justice and recovered 120 stolen vehicles.
The numbers of arrests and citations do not necessarily reflect actual violations that took place in each county during the period. The numbers were affected by the numbers of checkpoints and saturation patrols that took place in each county.
In Durham, for example, only 12 checkpoints were employed, though 138 added patrols also took place.
Locally, Chatham County saw 28 checkpoints in place, Granville County 27, Orange County nine and Person County 28. Total checkpoints and added patrols broke down as Durham with 150, followed by Person at 103, Chatham at 95, Granville at 93 and Orange at 35.
Durham did have the most DWI arrests of any area county, its 34 four more than Granville's 30. Orange County had 25, Chatham County 18 and Person 17.
Durham also led the way in total criminal violations, which included drugs, stolen vehicles and wanted felons arrested, among other items, with 371. Next was Orange at 247, followed by Person 108, Granville 96 and Chatham 38.
In the total package that includes all traffic and criminal violations recorded, Durham was tops with 1,690, followed by Orange 1,300, Chatham 909, Granville 701 and Person 488.
