Nassau Police to Crack Down on Drunk Driving Thanksgiving Weekend

Nassau County Police announced Thursday the implementation of a drunk driving prevention initiative for Thanksgiving weekend as well as an increase in DWI patrols for the remainder of the year.

There were 60 DWI arrests in Nassau County over Thanksgiving weekend in 2014, police said. This year, Nassau County looks to lower this number and prevent drunk driving-related motor vehicle crashes and deaths through the STOP-DWI initiative.

This initiative, which stands for Special Traffic Options Program for Driving While Intoxicated, is funded entirely from DWI fines collected in Nassau County and is coordinated by the NCPD’s Highway Patrol Bureau.

In addition to Thanksgiving weekend, Nassau County leaders announced that the NCPD will use $200,000 in asset forfeiture funding to perform additional DWI patrols for the rest of the year.

This means that more officers will be put on enforcement patrols in every part of Nassau County to crack down on drunk driving.

“The asset forfeiture funds are non-taxpayer dollars that will be used to combat this serious and deadly issue on our roadways that is claiming far too many innocent lives,” NCPD said in a press release.

These drunk driving enforcements were announced by County Executive Ed Mangano, District Attorney Madeline Singas and Acting Police Commissioner Thomas Krumpter on Thursday.