Illinois State Police plan special details

Illinois State Police District 22 personnel plan to conduct roadside safety checks in Alexander and Pulaski counties during April.

Alcohol countermeasure enforcement patrols also are planned in Alexander County during April.

Plans for the details were announced by Lt. Michael Alvey, the interim commander of District 22, which has its headquarters at Ullin.

Alvey said in a news release that the use of roadside safety checks combines “a strong sense of public awareness and enforcement in order to save lives of the motoring public.”

The alcohol countermeasure enforcement patrols allow the state police “to focus on preventing, detecting and taking enforcement action in response to violations associated with impaired driving and illegal transportation or consumption of alcohol or drugs,” Alvey stated.

The District 22 interim commander noted that the state police have “zero tolerance for impaired driving in Illinois.”

He said that officers who are working the details will be watchful for drivers who are operating vehicles in an unsafe manner, driving with a suspended or revoked driver’s license and transporting open alcoholic beverages.

Most importantly, he said, officers will be watching for violations which involve:

Driving under the influence, safety belt and child restraint use, speeding, distracted driving and all Illinois Vehicle Code and Criminal Violations.

The state police noted that alcohol and drug impairment is a factor in more than 30 percent of all fatal motor vehicle crashes in Illinois. 

Throughout the United States, nearly 10,000 people die each year due to alcohol-impaired driving. There is one alcohol-related traffic fatality every 53 minutes in the United States.

Alvey said that the details “are designed to keep our roads safe by taking dangerous DUI offenders off the road.”

The details are funded through the Illinois Department of Transportation.