STARKVILLE — The Starkville Police Department”s DUI and MIP details had a busy Super Bulldog Weekend.
Officers arrested 22 people — five of which were minors — for driving under the influence of alcohol and arrested or issued citations to 15 minors in possession of alcohol this Friday and Saturday.
Chief David Lindley wasn”t surprised to see the number of DUI arrests double that of a normal weekend.
“During any social event, the most common challenge we face is that people like to consume alcoholic beverages,” he said. “Alcohol violations are the most frequent problems which effect our quality of life.”
Super Bulldog Weekend began one of the SPD”s busiest periods for alcohol offenses due to the increase in visitors and social events around town. The coming weekend is Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity”s Blue and White Weekend, followed by the Cotton District Arts Festival next weekend and Mississippi State University”s graduation ceremonies the weekend of April 29.
To combat DUIs and MIPs, the SPD assigns special details of two to 10 officers in addition to the regular shift on duty who focus specifically on those offenses. The department pays those officers” wages for the extra detail via annual MIP grants of approximately $12,000.
Sgt. Shawn Word, who oversees the special details, said the department generally deploys one DUI detail, one MIP detail and one seat belt violation detail each month.
On Friday, six officers were assigned to an MIP detail until midnight, then switched to DUI detail. Five officers were assigned to DUI detail all evening Saturday.
Word said a DUI detail involves additional officers patrolling the city in squad cars looking for signs of intoxicated driving. An MIP detail includes sending uniformed officers into bars to look for suspicious behavior and patrolling popular party spots at closing time.
“It”s usually as easy as when we walk in we see people try to hide their drinks and move away. We approach them, identify ourselves, which is easy if you”re in uniform and ask for their driver”s license. If they”re under 21, we take them outside and issue an arrest citation,” said Word. “Then we patrol the partying places and drive through and see if people are walking down the streets with open containers. Again, people who look underage will try to hide their beers.”
Lindley said Starkville is fortunate to have a relatively low incidence of DUI-related crashes despite the number of people drinking and driving. He said the special details help keep those figures low.
Jason Browne was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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