No DWI Arrests Night Before Thanksgiving

Drinking and driving wasn't on the menu this past Wednesday night, Nov. 24, with no Thanksgiving eve alcohol-related incidents in Collingswood this year, said police. 

"Wednesday, the night before Thanksgiving, is what we believe to be the biggest drinking night of the year — even more so than New Year's Eve," Collingswood Police Lieutenant Glenn A. Prince noted.

The night traditionally breeds so many alcohol-related incidents that the Collingswood Police Department was well-prepared for Wednesday night.

According to Prince, around the holiday season — and during a few other holidays throughout the year — the state helps boost enforcement on a municipal level.

During these times, said Prince, the state's Division of Highway Traffic Safety (DHTS), in conjunction with the Drunk Driving Enforcement Fund (DDEF), supply police departments around the state with funding. Prince said the departments use the funds to combat drunken driving by supplementing a municipality's current law enforcement.

This year, Collingswood chose three nights to utilize additional, state-funded enforcement. On all three nights — this past Wednesday, Friday and Saturday — the department used additional patrollers from midnight until 4 a.m.

 "Because we believe Wednesday night holds the highest risk for incident, we opted to use two additional patrolmen," said Prince. "We deployed one additional patrolman on Friday, and one on Saturday."

"We've found the state's enforcement aid to be especially effective, mainly because additional manpower is employed solely to enforce New Jersey's drunk driving laws," Prince added of state-funding by DHTS and DDEF. "They don't have to answer calls or focus on other incidents. They are devoted to DWI enforcement."

So where does the state get funds that supplement local DWI enforcement?

Funding comes from actual drunken driving cases, said Prince.

Prince said for every DWI conviction at the municipal level, DWI defendants pay a DDEF surcharge, which goes to the state. During at-risk holidays, said Prince, the state gives those surcharge funds back to the municipality they originated from. Funds are then used for supplementing DWI enforcement.

Prince said he believes the funding has been largely responsible for Collingswood's lack of DWI incidents — mainly because it's become publicly well-known that law enforcement cracks down on DWI incidents during the holidays.

"People are aware of all the extra enforcement, and are taking necessary precautions, like calling a cab or having a designated driver," he said.

And while Prince acknowledged that Collingswood Borough is a dry town, he agreed that DWI incidents can still occur. Collingswood restaurants are BYOB, meaning people can bring their own alcohol to drink with dinner. And others drive through the borough, in order to get home from bars in neighboring towns.

"We were very fortunate we didn't have any drunk driving or alcohol-related incidents, accidents or fatalities here during that three day period," said Prince.