Law officers to step up Labor Day weekend patrols

Law enforcement officers statewide will take part in extra patrols for Labor Day weekend and also are involved in a nationwide campaign to take drunks off the roads.

The state’s extra patrol effort is for the 72-hour period from 6 p.m. Friday through Sept. 5.

Katie Mueller, spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Highway Safety Office, said ENDUI is a statewide campaign this year.

Expect “high visibility enforcement,” during the Labor Day weekend as well as advertising pushes, she said. Checkpoints will be set up in high traffic areas statewide.

Mueller said state efforts coincide with “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over,” a campaign that nationwide law enforcement officers started Aug. 17.

The efforts have made a difference in helping to reduce drunken driving in recent years, Mueller said.

Over the 2015 Labor Day weekend, nine people died in Oklahoma crashes. Alcohol was a cause in six of those crashes. In 2014, there were eight fatal wrecks during Labor Day weekend and four of those were alcohol-related, the Oklahoma Highway Safety Office reports.

In 2013 there were 12 fatalities on the roadways during Labor Day weekend, with three of those alcohol-related, the office reports.

Labor Day weekend can be one of the deadliest holiday weekends as people head to lakes and resorts. Oklahoma lakes also will be patrolled.

Operating a boat while drinking is illegal.