Labor Day weekend was a safe one in the city of McMinnville. During two saturation patrols, one individual was arrested for driving under the influence.
“We had two saturated patrols, a combined 14 hours,” said police Lt. Mark Mara. “With the extra patrol working with the regular shift, we had one DUI arrest on Friday night, no DUI-related accidents and no fatalities. All in all, it was a really good saturation patrol.”
Officers assigned to the saturation patrol issued five citations for driving on suspended or revoked licenses, cited 10 individuals for not wearing their seatbelts, and gave 10 warnings for various violations.
“Not every stop is going to result in a citation,” said Mara, in explaining the warnings given. “The only way we can find out if someone is impaired or not is to stop them. If we stop them for a minor violation and they are not impaired, we can give them a warning. It’s up to the officer’s discretion.”
Also targeted were the intersections of Mullican Street and Sunset Drive along the 70S Bypass. Officers watched for speeders and drivers running red lights.
“At Mullican Street, we observed no red-light violations,” said Mara. “At Sunset Drive, we gave four citations for speeding, but no citations for running the red light. We were at each intersection for about an hour each. I’m happy to see people are actually watching the red lights better. Our efforts seem to be working.”
The department has received funding from the Tennessee Governor’s Highway Safety Office to continue holding saturation patrols.
“We are not backing down or giving up,” said Mara. “We received another grant for this upcoming year and we are going to continue our efforts. The Governor’s Highway Safety Office allotted us $25,000 to use for overtime pay and portable breath testing equipment.”
The next saturation patrol is yet to be announced.