State Police announce upcoming DUI saturation patrol in Portsmouth

PORTSMOUTH - Colonel Nathan A. Noyes, director of the New Hampshire State Police, Lieutenant Keith J. Walker, commander of the Troop A barracks, and Chief Mark Newport of the Portsmouth Police Department announce that on Friday, Dec. 9, state troopers from the Troop A barracks, in conjunction with police officers from the Portsmouth Police Department will be conducting a DUI Saturation Patrol in Portsmouth.

This initiative is funded by the New Hampshire Office of Highway Safety and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The program provides federal highway safety funds to support these saturation patrols designed to combat the ongoing issue of impaired driving.

NHTSA analytical data indicates that in the United States, one person is killed about every 45 minutes in an impaired driving crash, totaling more than 11,000 lives lost per year. Although state and local police agencies work tirelessly to combat this issue on a daily and nightly basis, the program will allow a larger contingency of state troopers and officers to focus solely on the detection and apprehension of impaired drivers.

With the holiday season in full swing, the New Hampshire State Police and the Portsmouth Police Department would like to encourage all motorists to make safe choices prior to getting behind the wheel and remind everyone that the problem of impaired driving is a preventable one. They further encourage designating a sober driver and arranging rideshare programs or alternative means of transportation whenever possible.

If you are a member of the motoring public and observe a suspected impaired driver, call 911 immediately and be prepared to provide your exact location to include street names and highway mile markers, a plate number and description of the vehicle involved, along with the details of your observations.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: State Police announce upcoming DUI saturation patrol in Portsmouth NH