SEATTLE — The Seattle Police Department says it believes the streets were safer during the holiday season because of a DUI unit created to deal with impaired drivers.
SPD launched its holiday season DUI enforcement campaign in early December to target drivers suspected of driving under the influence.
In a blotter post, SPD said that from Dec. 3 to Dec. 31, the seven-person DUI emphasis team made contact with 724 drivers.
During their interactions, DUI emphasis officers gave 498 citations and made 107 arrests.
SPD also noted that during their DUI emphasis patrols, six children were removed from cars that were stopped, and 27 suspects were arrested for unrelated crimes.
The department highlighted instances where DUI enforcement caught and even helped drivers suspected of DUI.
In one instance, SPD reviewed a Dec. 6 incident where police had to cut a driver suspected of DUI out of a car after the driver crashed into two parked cars and flipped into a power pole in Magnolia.
Capt. Randy Ward spoke about the success of the campaign, saying, “We see this effort tremendously impactful. It is impossible to estimate the number of lives we saved from collisions avoided.”
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