Bel Air Police to Participate in Anti-DUI Campaign

Before Super Bowl Sunday, the Bel Air Police Department is joining a team of law enforcement officials calling for citizens to stay safe on the roads this weekend.

The department will be among 11 agencies addressing the media Friday afternoon to announce the “40 on 40” program.

Each day from Friday to Sunday, there will be 40 officers posted along the Route 40 corridor from Howard to Cecil counties taking impaired drivers off the road, according to a statement from Checkpoint Strikeforce, a multi-state effort to curb drunk driving.

In addition to increasing patrols for Super Bowl weekend, Baltimore and Harford counties will hold DUI checkpoints.

Related: DWI Checkpoint Slated for Super Bowl Sunday in Harford County

The following agencies will be represented at a press conference Friday announcing the “40 on 40” patrol:

• Maryland State Police
• Maryland Transportation Authority Police
• Aberdeen Police Department
• Baltimore Police Department
• Baltimore County Police Department
• Bel Air Police Department
• Cecil County Sheriff’s Office
• Elkton Police Department
• Harford County Sheriff’s Office
• Havre De Grace Police Department
• Howard County Police Department.

The wife of an officer hit by a drunk driver in Howard County last year—Éva O’Croinin—will be in attendance at the press conference. Her husband, Officer Mike Marino, has recovered from his injuries and will be among those patrolling during the 40 on 40 operation.

After the 7 p.m. Friday press conference at the Golden Ring Barrack, police will deploy along the Route 40 corridor.

The initiative is supported by the International Association of Chiefs of Police, which selected Maryland and this stretch of highway based on crash data from the past several years, according to Checkpoint Strikeforce. The data was not immediately available.