DWI checks will focus on certain areas
News Staff Reporter
4/24/2002
Police officials didn't want to ruin the surprise, but made no secret that Grand Island and southern Erie County towns such as Collins and North Collins will come in for special attention as they launch a season of checkpoints looking for drunken drivers.
Areas with high accident rates and numerous complaints from citizens, as well as heavily traveled roads such as Sheridan Drive and Transit Road, will see the most checkpoints as the summer driving season gets under way, Sheriff Patrick Gallivan said Tuesday.
He was joined by representatives of police agencies throughout the area at Grand Island Town Hall to receive a symbolic check of $32,164 from the Governor's Traffic Safety Committee to supplement the $600,000 that already is spent in the county on DWI education and enforcement.
While checkpoints will be throughout the county, some areas will see more than others. In addition, roving patrols, called Police Lifesaver Patrols, will look for motorists trying to evade the checkpoints, Gallivan said.
City of Tonawanda Police Chief Mark Winters, representing the Erie County Chiefs of Police Association, said education as well as enforcement will be the goal of the lifesaver patrols.