Police Police Blotter: Increased Arrests for Traffic Violations due to Increased Patrolling

Traffic arrests outnumbered other arrests four to one last week (21 out of 26 arrests). A vast majority of those arrests were of residents who live outside of Golden Valley. 

Because Golden Valley is a major highway hub with four interstates carrying commuters through the metro, many traffic stops involve people passing through. 

Joanne Paul, Crime Analyst for Golden Valley police report says that traffic related stops don't go up or down according to the season, but they do have officers specifically assigned to Safe & Sober and HEAT details. Both programs are grants awarded by the State of Minnesota.

Officers on the Safe & Sober and HEAT up beats,  are trained to do additional sobriety evaluation. Both programs aim to increase seatbelt use and decrease drunk driving. The grants are managed by Commander Mike Meehan. 

With Memorial Day weekend ahead, many state Safe & Sober programs are focusing on seat belt enforcement as well as recognizing drunk drivers early and getting them off the streets. Golden Valley had two DWI and a DUI arrest last week, and could very well see more this week as people celebrate the holiday.

Last week also saw a slight increase in incidents involving loitering in a park after ours and violations of the juvenile curfew. These incidents are almost certainly related to the good weather.