On the heels of a recent saturation patrol to make the streets safer prior to July 4, local law enforcement is gearing up for a second one July 6-9.
“All in all, the last one went really well,” said McMinnville Police Lt. Mark Mara. “We had no accidents caused by impaired drivers.”
In the June 25 saturation patrol, stops resulted in seven tickets issued, two warnings given, and one arrest for an outstanding warrant on a felony drug charge.
With the number of deadly wrecks so far this year in Warren County and the celebrations that are usually associated with July 4, McMinnville Police Department will be working in conjunction with the Warren County Sheriff’s Department and Tennessee Highway Patrol to conduct a larger patrol over four days.
“We will be working together on this one,” said Mara. “If we didn’t have so many accidents in Warren County, extra patrols would not be unnecessary.”
Officers assigned to a saturation patrol do not respond to calls. They are in addition to the officers that do. Their main responsibility is to patrol the streets and watch for the warning signs of impaired drivers — weaving, drifting, swerving, varying speed, slow speed, and accelerating for no reason — in an effort to make the roads safer.
When questioned if extra patrols are effective, Mara stated, “If we warn the public that we are doing an extra patrol looking for intoxicated drivers and we don’t find one, I’m excited. It means they are listening. If we get one, well, we gave them fair warning.”
The departments are once again asking for the public’s help. Call 668-7000 or 911 to report vehicles being operated in an unsafe manner. If possible, be prepared to provide the vehicle’s make, model, color, license plate number and direction of travel.