Narragansett To Patrol For Impaired Drivers Before New Year

NARRAGANSETT, RI — The Narragansett Police Department has partnered with Mothers Against Drunk Driving in Rhode Island to conduct two patrols in search of impaired drivers leading up to the new year.

These Honor Patrols, as the department calls them, aim to "raise awareness of the cost of impaired driving and the impact it has on families" in memory of victims of impaired driving crashes.

For their partnership with Narragansett police, Mothers Against Drunk Driving provided officers with information about these victims so that police could dedicate their DUI enforcement patrol in their honor.

On Saturday, Patrolman Brandon Gagnon will patrol for impaired drivers in honor of Frank Perry Jr., who was killed in an impaired driving crash on Oct. 8, 2018 as he was heading home from the annual Columbus Day Weekend Festival on Federal Hill in Providence, police said. Perry left behind two sons, ages 2 and 8 when he died.

On Sunday, Sergeant Lauren Kearns will patrol for impaired drivers in honor of Brigid Kelly, who died on Dec. 1, 2001, on Route 1 in North Kingstown. Kelly, who was a student at Salve Regina University at the time, was killed when the impaired driver of a stolen minivan struck another vehicle and then went head-on into Kelly's vehicle.

"Honor patrols seek to raise public awareness of the cost of impaired driving, while simultaneously taking impaired drivers off the road," Chief Corrigan said in a news release Thursday. "As always, I want to ask anyone who is impaired to give up their keys and let someone else drive this holiday season. It's a decision that can and will save lives, and a decision that could spare drivers from the high cost of a DUI conviction."

On average, Rhode Island law enforcement agencies arrest around 3,000 drivers for driving under the influence every year, according to the state's Department of Transportation.

Rhode Island has well above the national average of alcohol-impaired driving fatalities, which made up for nearly 44 percent of all of the state's driving fatalities in 2022, officials said.

Definitive data for 2023 is not yet available, according to officials.