Tyler authorities on the look-out for DWI drivers on Memorial weekend

The Tyler Police Department is once again stepping up its patrols targeting DWI drivers for the Memorial Day Holiday. The department will be participating in a State Grant during the Memorial Day Holiday that will provide funding to the department to enforce DWI laws. The enforcement detail will be on the look-out for intoxicated drivers that will start on Thursday, May 27th, through Monday, May 31st.

The Tyler Police Department along with Smith County Law Enforcement agencies will be out in force during the Holiday on the lookout for drunken drivers and they won’t be taking “NO” for an answer. A multi-joint effort between the Smith County District Attorney’s Office and police agencies from all over Smith County will participate in the ‘No-Refusal’ DWI Campaign once again. Upon the arrest of a suspected drunk driver, he or she will be asked if they would submit to blow into a breath-test machine or take a blood test. If the driver refuses and says “No” officers will obtain an immediate search warrant signed by a judge on call to have blood drawn by a nurse on staff at the Smith County Jail. The blood is then analyzed to determine whether the driver’s blood-alcohol concentration is 0.08 or higher, the legal limit for driving in Texas.

This program has proven to be an effective tool to combat drunken drivers. It is the intent of all Law Enforcement agencies that this effort will act as a deterrent, persuading people to avoid driving while intoxicated because they know that police officers will be conducting sobriety testing with or without driver’s consent.

In 2009 the Tyler Police Department arrested 584 drivers for driving while intoxicated.

PLEASE DON’T DRINK AND DRIVE!