Area law enforcement agencies including the St Francis County Sheriff's Department, Forrest City Police Department, and Arkansas State Police are joining with other law enforcement agencies throughout the nation to crack down on DWI's this holiday season. December 11th thru January 1st officers will be actively seeking DWI offenders to get them off the streets and keep the citizens safe.

"We are going to have officers working regular patrol as well as overtime under the Selective Traffic Enforcement Program grant that we received to find offenders and keep our citizens safe on the roadways throughout Christmas and the New Years holiday," commented Captain Eddie Adamson of the Sheriff's Department. "We are going to be expanding our program to get even more officers on the highways, county roads, and interstate this year than we did last year and we pray it will keep people from getting hurt."

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has spearheaded this national DWI mobilization that will go coast to coast and be carried out by law enforcement in every state.

"In the state of Arkansas an alcohol level of .08 or higher in an adult driver constitutes presumptive evidence that the person is intoxicated and guilty of DWI. If they are involved in an accident that level can be even lower and the person be charged if the officer feels they are impaired," Adamson added.

Nationally the problem of DWI on drugs or a combination of drugs and alcohol has been on the rise. All law enforcement agencies are urging anyone drinking or impaired in any way to have a designated driver to get them home safe. Forrest City Police Chief Deon Lee states his officers are going to be actively seeking out offenders who are using drugs or alcohol and driving, "We know it is a problem with some people using drugs or using a combination of drugs and alcohol and then driving. If a person is impaired to the point they are unsafe to drive and we encounter them, they will be charged and taken off the streets."

Captain David Moore, the Arkansas State Police Troop D Commander commented, "We will also be issuing citations for other traffic violations including seatbelt, speeding, and texting and driving in an effort to keep drivers safe throughout our entire troop and region. In addition we plan on doing Checkpoints to help get impaired drivers off the roads." Agencies are asking everyone to drive safely all the time but especially this holiday season when more people will be on the roads.

Captain Adamson from the Sheriff's Department also stated," We want everyone to be safe, if you see someone driving that you think is impaired please give us a call so we can check them out. If you don't know the number to call just call 9-1-1 and we will get you to the appropriate agency."