PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WMBB) — With more people starting to arrive in Panama City, Police are taking extra precautions concerning drunk driving.
The department is using a $20,000 grant from the Florida Department of Transportation to combat drinking under the influence.
Panama City Police Department Lieutenant Richard Thore says this helps them provide more officers on local highways.
“This is for extra officers on the road and high traffic areas observing traffic for erratic behavior such as too fast, too slow, weaving inside their lane, driving with no headlights, or things of that nature,” Thore said. “And, you know, detecting the DUI, using those tactics.”
The program is called High Visibility Enforcement.
“And just again, it’s additional officers on the street. So we don’t do checkpoints you know, the traditional cones on the road and pulling people over and checking for impairment. That way, none of that will happen,” stated Thore.
Florida is second among all U.S. states for drunk driving deaths. It is a sad fact, but Panama City Police hope that this program will reduce those fatalities.
“That’s the safety of the whole thing, is having those additional officers out there to reduce crashes truly through DUI detection, if we can get them stopped and take care of it that way before any traffic crashes or pedestrian crashes happen,” said Thore.
It is important to stay safe while driving. If you see anyone who is driving erratically around Panama City, please contact the Panama City Police Department.
