Palos Park Cops Ramp Up DUI Patrols, Offer Rides Home St. Paddy's Day

PALOS PARK, IL — If you plan on throwing back a lot of green beer or Bailey’s, Palos Park police remind residents it could cost you a pot o’ gold if you get busted for impaired driving leading up to St. Patrick’s Day, which this year falls on Sunday, March 17.

If you’re in Palos Park drinking after 5 p.m. on St. Patrick’s Day and your friends ditch you leaving you stranded, Palos Park police will be offering rides home to celebrants who feel too buzzed to drive. Call 708-448-2191 or 708-259-1035, and an officer will pick you up and get you home safely, no lectures and no questions asked. Police will only take you home, not to another bar or party.

Palos Park officers will also be stepping up seat belt enforcement particularly at night when seat belt usage rates are lowest.

“If you’re throwing them back, don’t rely on luck to drive home without getting pulled over. Phone a friend, order an Uber/Lyft or call a cab,” said Chief Joe Miller, of the Palos Park Police Department. “If you can’t behave like an adult while drinking, we will likely become acquainted and our friendship will feel rather one sided.”