At least 12 DUI arrests on Thanksgiving Eve in RI

By Alana Cerrone

acerrone@abc6.com

@Alana_Cerrone

In just an 8-hour span. police throughout Rhode Island who took part in a drunk driving enforcement task force arrested 12 suspected drunk drivers during Thanksgiving Eve, what’s considered the top drunk-driving night of the year.

Even though they’re now potentially facing thousands of dollars in fines and fees, police say it is better than the alternative – had they not gotten pulled over and taken off the roads, their night could have turned fatal.

"You have college students that are coming home. They aren’t the only problem there’s a lot of parties."

State Police along with Warwick, Cranston, Providence, and several other towns and cities across the state participated in the Impaired Driving Enforcement Task Force.

"We’re afforded the option through federal grants through the Department of Health through the RI Department of Transportation Office on Highway Safety, to put officers on the road specifically for an event like this."

For Warwick, that meant an additional 10 officers out on the streets from 7pm Thanksgiving Eve to 3am Thanksgiving morning. Officer John Curley was one of them.

"If you have just your general officers on the road they’re dealing with a lot between calls for service…emergencies…where they may not have the exact time to sit there for an 8-hr block and just focus on trying to detect impaired operators."

In Warwick alone, 7 DUI arrests. 6 of those 7 were processed here at the BAT Mobile,

a mobile breath alcohol testing unit that lets officers test, process and release suspects to a sober adult.

"It was nice to have so many officers on the road because you figure 7 arrests – definitely saved someone’s life."

© WLNE-TV 2016