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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
City of Duluth - Police Department
Mike Ceynowa, Chief of Police
2030 North Arlington Avenue • Duluth, Minnesota 55811 • www.duluthmn.gov
For more information contact:
Public Information Officer, Mattie Hjelseth at (218) 730-5434 or mhjelseth@duluthmn.gov
DATE: 3/13/2014
SUBJECT: Enhanced DWI Enforcement for St. Patrick's Day Weekend
BY: DPD Public Information Officer Jim Hansen (218) 390-2232

NATURE OF INCIDENT: Enhanced DWI Enforcement for St. Patrick's Day Weekend
CASE NO.:
INCIDENT DATE: 3/14/2014
INCIDENT TIME:
INCIDENT LOCATION: Duluth, MN

Beginning on Friday, March 14th, 2014 and continuing through St. Patrick’s Day the Duluth Police Department along with our law enforcement partners, the Minnesota State Patrol, St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office, Hermantown PD, Proctor PD, Floodwood PD and UMD PD will have extra Officers patrolling Duluth streets to make sure St. Patrick’s Day weekend is a safe one.  

St. Patrick’s Day partygoers are reminded to plan for a safe and sober ride home to avoid the serious consequences that come with a DWI.  St. Patrick’s Day is historically a dangerous drinking and driving party period.

•             St. Patrick’s Day, 2009–2013 — nine traffic deaths and only one was alcohol-related — points to a sign of people making safer, smarter decisions.

•             During that same time period, 1,450 drivers were arrested for DWI.

•             The number of DWI arrests on St. Patrick’s Day has gone up every year since 2009.

•             There were 375 DWI arrests on St. Paddy’s last year, far greater than the typical 250 DWI weekend average. 

•             There were 104 drunk driving deaths in 2012, down from 111 in 2011. However, that’s 104 traffic deaths that could have been prevented.

•             Alcohol-related fatalities are decreasing — thanks to motorists making safe, smart decisions. Enforcement campaigns are also making an impact.

•             Each year, more than 28,000 motorists are arrested for DWI.

•             Majority of the offenders are males in their 20s.

•             More than one-half million Minnesotans have DWI on record — that’s one in seven drivers.

Toward Zero Deaths

DWI enforcement and education is a component of the state’s core traffic safety initiative, Toward Zero Deaths (TZD). A primary vision of the TZD program is to create a safe driving culture in Minnesota in which motorists support a goal of zero road fatalities by practicing and promoting safe and smart driving behavior. TZD focuses on the application of four strategic areas to reduce crashes — education, enforcement, engineering and emergency trauma response.