DWI arrests surge over weekend

St. Tammany News

Tightening its vow to curb drunk driving, State Police Troop L arrested 33 suspected drunken drivers this weekend, a 65 percent surge in normal rates of DWI arrests, Troop L Spokesman Louis Calato said.

"The drunks are always out there, but this number is outstanding," Calato said. "Officers are digging deep. They're getting these guys off the roadways."

The arrests come on the heels of a Christmas gift to area residents - a massive campaign launched mid-December to rid roadways of drunk drivers. Officials with Troop L, the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission and St. Tammany Parish Sheriff Jack Strain pledged to derail drunk driving with campaigns that pumped $8 million in statewide public service announcements and overtime pay for officers to specifically seeking drunk drivers.

"I'm tired of it. The sheriff is tired of it. These police officers are tired of it ... to watch the devastation of a single family because somebody couldn't stop drinking," Louisiana Highway Safety Commissioner Col. James Champagne said at the time.

Of St. Tammany's 57 fatalities in 2006 - the last year on record - 33 percent, or 19 deaths, were caused by alcohol, according to the LSU Highway Safety Research Group. Statewide, 445, or 46 percent of 889 vehicular deaths were attributed to alcohol, the study said.

In contrast, the national average is 41 percent.

And in St. Tammany it's "progressively getting worse," Champagne said.

"The problem in Louisiana continues to exacerbate every single year," Champagne said in a recent press release. "It's been a lack of dedicated enforcement effort for a while. No pay for overtime and not enough law enforcement officials on the streets ... but we will stop drunk driving, and we will stop it now."

The need is evident, he said. In 2006, the last year on record, St. Tammany boasted 1,722 DWI arrests, one of only nine parishes out of 64 statewide to reach the 1,000-arrest mark, according to the LSU Highway Safety Research Group.

Many of those numbers are attributed to Troop L whose officers continue to lead other State Police troops in DWI arrests despite is size as one of Louisiana's smallest.

"Our troopers are invested," Calato said. "They have families on the roads, too."

State Police Troop L, headquartered south of Covington on U.S. Highway 190, patrols 5,255 miles in Tangipahoa, St. Helena, Washington and St. Tammany parishes.