HELENA— The Helena Police Department said the addition of an officer who strictly works DUI enforcement is yielding big results.
Lieutenant Jayson Zander said in the four months since the DUI enforcement officer began full-time patrol on October 1, he has made 57 DUI arrests.
Those arrests helped significantly boost the year-end totals for Helena police. They ended 2018 with 303 total DUI arrests for the year. That’s compared to 218 the year before.
Lt. Zander said being able to focus one officer has made a big impact.
“That position is one full-time police officer dedicated to DUI enforcement. We have him working, obviously, the hours when we have more DUIs out on the roads, so the evening hours, but obviously we will change those as different events and different things comes up,” said Lt. Zander.
Here’s a look at how the total number of DUI arrests break down by department for Lewis and Clark County for 2018:
Again, Helena Police Department had 303. Lewis and Clark County Sheriff’s Office had 88. East Helena Police Department had 11. The Montana Highway Patrol had 119.
The total comes to 521 arrests.
Helena Police Department’s full-time DUI enforcement officer is made possible by a one-year Montana Department of Transportation grant that H.P.D. hopes to receive again.
-Reported by Melissa Jensen/MTN News
