OFFICERS GEAR UP FOR NEW YEAR'S EVE

New Year's Eve, a traditional night for raucous parties and heavy alcohol consumption, will be a little safer this year if the efforts of law enforcement in the area are successful.

Both local and state police will be out in greater numbers this year in hopes of reducing the number of alcohol-related traffic accidents.

The Cape Girardeau Police Department will send more officers to patrol the streets this evening as a part of its DWI enforcement effort. The patrols will act much like the weekend DWI patrol currently used by the department.

Each weekend three additional police officers are put on the street with the sole responsibility of detecting and arresting people suspected of driving while under the influence of alcohol and drugs.

Sgt. Carl Kinnison of the Cape Girardeau Police Department said Wednesday that there are certain areas in the city where most DWI arrests are made. While officers will be patrolling all areas of the city tonight in search of impaired drivers, patrol officers will frequent the high-incident areas, Kinnison said.

Similarly, the Missouri State Highway Patrol will have an increased presence on state highways not only tonight, but throughout the holiday weekend.

The increased number of officers will be a continuation of the patrol's HOPE program. HOPE, which stands for Holiday Operation of Protection and Enforcement, is a program through which the highway patrol beefs up it presence on all Missouri roadways, especially the interstates.

Lt. George Ridens of the highway patrol said that the intent of HOPE is to make sure that motorists drive responsibly and obey the laws.

"During the New Year's holiday one of the big things is targeting drinking and driving," Ridens said, "but we will target all erratic and aggressive driving that could lead to traffic crashes."

The HOPE program began this year just before the Christmas holiday weekend. Extra patrols are put on the roads in order to increase visibility and enforcement.

Ridens said the patrol believes the increased presence has reduced the number of traffic accidents and fatalities on the state highways. During the three-day Christmas weekend, 13 fatalities occurred statewide. Last year 22 fatalities occurred over the Christmas holiday.

Kinnison said that tonight's enforcement is part of an ongoing effort by the department to crack down on impaired driving. A little more attention is given on New Year's Eve because of the number of parties, he said.

But he added that the department typically sees no more DWI arrests on New Year's Eve than on any given weekend night. Sometimes the number of arrests is less, he said.

"I believe that part of the reason is that so many people take seriously the effort to reduce crashes," he said.

The department is encouraging people who are celebrating the new year to do so responsibly. Among their recommendations is for hosts to serve food if alcohol is being served and to offer non-alcoholic drinks as an alternative.

In addition, if hosts see intoxicated guests, they should offer to let them stay the night or offer them a ride home, Kinnison said.

He also added that people going out to parties or to local bars should have a designated driver who will not drink alcohol throughout the evening.