Area law enforcement officers are working together to set up a sobriety checkpoint this weekend in the areas of South Bend and Mishawaka.
The checkpoint will take place between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. Saturday, April 11, on the northeast side of South Bend and the southwest side of Mishawaka, according to a news release from Mishawaka Police Department Lt. Tim Williams.
The St. Joseph County Traffic Safety Partnership is conducting the checkpoints. The partnership is made up of Lakeville, Mishawaka, New Carlisle, North Liberty, Notre Dame, Roseland, South Bend, St. Joseph County and Walkerton police departments.
The sobriety checkpoints are used by St. Joseph County police to aggressively deter, detect and arrest impaired drivers, according to the release.
According to Indiana’s Traffic Safety Facts, in 2013, 6,882 people were involved in collisions where alcohol was a factor. Out of those accidents, 124 people died.
Sobriety checkpoints have proven successful in both raising awareness of impaired driving and reducing the likelihood of a person driving after they have been drinking, according to the release.
Officers working the sobriety checkpoints are paid for overtime by grant funds from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration through the Indiana Governor’s Council on Impaired and Dangerous Driving.
