Multiple law enforcement agencies said they set out to catch drunk drivers before they caused accidents over the Fourth of July weekend. Numbers show that aggressive enforcement worked.
Over the holiday weekend, Friday through Monday, Tampa police made 34 DUI arrests and Florida Highway Patrol arrested 28 impaired drivers.
Last year over the Fourth of July holiday weekend, Tampa police made 22 DUI arrests and Florida Highway Patrol made 13 arrests.
Both agencies increased their DUI arrests this Fourth of July holiday. Tampa police said they're using a new $191,000 grant to add more aggressive DUI enforcement.
"Despite our efforts to educate people and to warn people and to let them know that we're going to be out there enforcing the law, I think that some people think that they are not going to get caught, that they are not impaired, they are and it's a very dangerous thing what they're doing," Stephen Hegarty with TPD said.
Aggressive enforcement may be working. According to this year's Fourth of July crash reports, Florida Highway Patrol said this year's numbers are still rolling in but right now we saw 99 crashes and no deaths. Last year's Fourth of July weekend, Tampa Bay had 209 crashes and four deaths.
With Tampa Police Department's grant, you'll see more DUI check points in the city limits over the next few months.
Those check point locations are shared with the public before they take effect.
