UNLPD stepping up drunk driving enforcement for holidays

Expect law enforcement on campus and across the state to be in a giving mood this season.

They'll be handing tickets, of course, not breaks.

Fresh off a successful grant that helped the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Police Department nab unbuckled motorists, UNLPD is starting its portion of a highway safety campaign today.

This time, the targets are drunken drivers.

Carl Oestmann, director of patrol operations for UNLPD, said during the "Click It or Ticket" campaign from Nov. 23 to Nov. 29, police cited 43 people for speeding, eight for driving under suspension (four of whom were arrested) and three for no proof of insurance. An additional 41 tickets were issued for seat belt violations. This latest grant, "You Drink, You Drive, You Lose," is a national campaign aimed at making the roads sober from Dec. 1 to Jan. 4.

Fred Zwonechek, the Nebraska Highway administrator, said his office has distributed $456,000 among 58 sheriffs and police departments across the state. That's enough for 16,000 overtime hours. There are several ways a law enforcement agency could use the money, Zwonechek said, and it's up to each individual agency to make its own strategy.

Oestmann said UNLPD will add officers on a "saturation patrol," meaning extra police cars will be roaming streets that cut through campus, looking for impaired drivers.

"I don't foresee us doing sobriety checkpoints," Oestmann said.

Commercials for the campaign have already started, Zwonechek said, mostly on channels such as FX and ESPN. The Nebraska Office of Highway Safety has been participating in campaigns against drunken drivers for years and studies the results.

"It truly does have an impact in reducing alcohol-related crashes," Zwonechek said. "We want sober drivers."

RYANBOETEL@DAILYNEBRASKAN.COM