PASCO, Wash. – The Pasco Police Department has been focusing on DUI patrols this year, with a particular emphasis over Halloween weekend. Eight DUI-related accidents occurred in the city during this time.
Lieutenant Tom Groom from Pasco Police explained the department’s efforts. “We’ve seen about a 43% rise in our DUI arrests for the year,” Groom said. “And we’re looking also at about 53 DUI-related traffic collisions as well for this year.”
Groom emphasized that the increase in arrests and accidents is not due to a rise in incidents but better detection. “I can tell you the emphasis helps us find more of them,” he said. “It doesn’t create more of them. So those DUIs were out there. We were just missing them because we didn’t have the resources allocated to it.”
Groom urged the community to celebrate the holiday season responsibly. “If you’re going to go out and you’re going to partake, have a plan,” Groom said. “Have a driver, call an Uber. Man, if it’s real bad, flag one of us down. We’ll see if we can find it. Find a way to get you home safely.”
Jennifer Dorsett from Target Zero, a drunk driving awareness program, highlighted the severity of DUI-related fatalities in Washington. She says that about half of the deaths on the road in Washington every year are caused by DUI crashes.
