With school started and the Labor Day weekend approaching, the Columbia Police Department is increasing road patrols dedicated to traffic safety.
“From Aug. 18 through Sept. 4, we’re conducting our Labor Day blitz,” Capt. Johnny Barnes said. “We will be looking for impaired drivers and more during this period.”
Barnes said a grant from the Mississippi Office of Highway Safety will help put additional officers on the road. Since last October, nearly $8,500 worth of grant funding has been used for overtime to put officers on city streets.
“The money allows us to have checkpoints and saturation patrols,” Barnes said. “We’re able to bring in off-duty officers. We also receive a grant for a part-time DUI officer. These grants allow us to have more officers on duty during peak hours.”
So far this calendar year the CPD has conducted 12 safety checkpoints with more than 20 hours spent on sites. Those 20 hours of checkpoints have added up to more than 180 of overtime, funded by the grants. Officers have also conducted 18 saturation patrols. The checkpoints and saturation patrols have been effective, according to Barnes, who shared statistics for the calendar year.
“Our traffic enforcement has yielded more than speeders and seatbelt violations,” Barnes said. “We’ve found a lot of children who weren’t properly restrained. The checkpoints yield a lot of things; we’ve found drugs, counterfeit money and more. The checkpoints are also a teaching tool. The older officers can work with the younger ones and learn from them.”
