Countywide law enforcement grant awarded

By Barbara Brown
Police agencies in Chisago County are getting some financial help fight drinking and driving.
The Chisago County Sheriffís Office received a state grant of $35,000 to pay for overtime for Safe and Sober program enforcement.
The money will be shared with the Chisago City, Lindstrom, North Branch, Wyoming and Isanti police departments.
The Minnesota Department of Public Safety, Office of Traffic Safety, has been running the Safe and Sober program for a number of years.
The program is meant to get law enforcement to conduct publicized enforcement to address impaired drivers.
The Safe and Sober program has proven that traffic enforcement ìis not only an end in itself, but it is also a valuable tool and an integral part of both criminal interdiction and community policing,î Sheriff Todd Rivard said.
The sheriff met representatives from partnering agencies at the Taylors Falls ìMinnesota Welcomes Youî overlook last week in an effort to show enforcement will be carried out from the stateís edge through Isanti County.
Safety statistics, of the 87 counties in Minnesota, Chisago County ranks No. 61, which is above the average for the number of people killed or severely injured each year in car wrecks.
By October of last year, the state had 443 traffic fatalities, compared to 461 so far this year.
ìAt the pace we are going, in 2003, we may see 680 traffic deaths,î said Mark Dronen with the Department of Public Safety.. ìIf your logic in buying lottery tickets is that ëit could happen,í realize a traffic crash has better odds of happening.î
Dronen added that while enforcement will be increased during overtime shifts, police will still regularly be on the roads writing tickets for people who chose to disobey traffic laws.
Good driving habits include driving at safe speeds, signaling turns, not following too closely never driving impaired from alcohol, drugs or fatigue and always wearing a seat belt.

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