GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – The Green Bay Police Department says that it’ll be an unlucky St. Patrick’s Day weekend for drunk drivers.
Officers are always on the lookout for drunk and buzzed drivers, but the focus will be amplified with St. Patrick’s Day coming this Sunday.
While the official holiday isn’t until the end of the weekend, expanded police presence is set to begin as soon as most people start their weekend.
“On Friday night we’re probably going to have another half-dozen officers out there just looking for those drunk drivers,” says Green Bay Police Chief Andrew Smith.
And that’s just the beginning as efforts continue to ramp up as the weekend goes on.
“On Saturday you can expect more than a dozen officers out there from different agencies, high profile, stopping those people that appear to be intoxicated and taking them to jail,” explains Chief Smith. “This is not the weekend to drink and drive.”
St. Patrick’s Day is typically a busy affair for officers, to begin with, and adding fuel to the fire is the fact that most people will have the day off as it falls at the tail end of the weekend.
“Typically on St. Patrick’s Day itself we’ll have six or eight OWI arrests,” he explains. “But this is probably the big drinking weekend of the year for us here in Green Bay.”
Another point of emphasis is that buzzed driving is considered drunk driving.
A “designated driver” loses that status once they have their first drink.
“I can’t tell you how many times we arrest people and they say, ‘But I only had one or two,’” he says. “And they blow over that .08 and we end up taking them to jail.”
Fortunately, those celebrating should have an abundance of alternative options in order to get home.
“The good news about this is that it’s all preventable,” says Chief Smith. “Take an Uber, take a Lyft, take a ride-share, take a taxi, have a friend drop you off, have a designated driver.”
He also adds that with warmer temperatures it may be possible for some individuals to simply walk around to various destinations.
The important thing is having a plan in place, otherwise, the consequences will be severe.
“This is a good weekend to drive sober or you can plan on getting pulled over by our officers,” explains Chief Smith.
