Police efforts deter drunk driving citations

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Updated: January 20, 2012 11:01AM

Local police said initiatives during Thanksgiving and Christmas season to deter drunken driving paid off.

River Forest Deputy Police Chief Craig Rutz said impaired motorists were staying out of River Forest because his officers were actively patrolling for drunk drivers.

As a result, River Forest police made only three DUI arrests on Christmas and one on Thanksgiving.

The low arrests are a good thing, said Rutz, who added that it is “displacing crime.”

Rutz said he plans to build on the department’s reputation.

“We have big hopes to try to do more with this,” he said. “I think we’re going in the right direction.”

In Elmwood Park, the police department did not have any state or federal grant money to set up checkpoints during the holidays, but Elmwood Park Police Chief Frank Fagiano made sure their presence was known. The department issued seven citations for DUI and nine for alcohol-related seatbelt violations.

“We concentrate on DUI enforcement all of the time,” Fagiano said. “We don’t need a grant. It would be nice to have one, but we are vigilant.”

He said the department has worked hard to maintain staffing levels when it comes to police on the street by replacing retiring officers with new hires as soon as possible.

“We’ve got two new guys on the street and three new guys in the academy as we speak,” he said.