Minnesota’s Operation NightCAP patrols are taking drunk drivers off Minnesota roads and making the roads safer. In March 167 DWI arrests were made. Of these arrests, 125 were in the Twin Cities metro area. More than 2,100 vehicles were stopped with more than 777 drivers cited for traffic and equipment related violations.

These patrols target the fifteen deadliest counties for impaired driving. The counties are Anoka, Beltrami, Blue Earth, Cass, Crow Wing, Dakota, Hennepin, Olmsted, Ramsey, Rice, St. Louis, Sherburne, Stearns, Washington and Wright. Between 2004 and 2006 these counties accounted for more than half of Minnesota’s alcohol related deaths of 272 and 762 serious injuries.

Operation NighCAP includes participating law enforcement agencies that include State Patrol, sheriff departments and local police departments. Lt. Mark Peterson of the State Patrol said that they plan to use these enhanced DWI patrols throughout the year. He hopes that these DWI patrols will make the streets safer from drunken drivers.

NightCAP is funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and is coordinated by the Minnesota Department of Public Safety Office of Traffic Safety.