UNI Police participate in national campaign

The University of Northern Iowa Police Division, along with 325 other Iowa agencies, increased enforcement on drunk driving beginning Aug. 24 and will continue through Sept. 6. This added awareness toward drunk driving is part of the national "Drunk Driving ‘Over the Limit – Under Arrest'" campaign. The added precautions were scheduled in conjunction with Labor Day.

    According to Lieutenant Doug Widen of UNI Police, increased enforcement includes officers coming in at a certain time other than their regular shift. During this time they solely look for traffic violations, especially drunk driving. On average, five to eight UNI students get arrested for drunk driving every month, according to Widen.

    "The main thing is not to drive if someone has been drinking," Widen said. "There is a Safe Ride Bus provided by UNI that will transport students from different establishments and so they have a ride if they have been drinking."

    "We specifically do this program to promote safety and make college students aware," Widen said. "If we can save one life or prevent one person from being injured, then we've met our goal."

    "Drunk Driving  ‘Over the Limit – Under Arrest'" is a nationwide campaign of the Impaired Driving Division and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration whose, goal according to its website, is "to work cooperatively to save lives, prevent injuries and reduce traffic-related healthcare and economic costs resulting from impaired driving." 

    According to Lt. Widen, the UNI Police Division's participation in this campaign is just one of the many things they do throughout the year as part of their contract with the Governor's Traffic Safety Bureau (GTSB).

    "We have a one-year contract with GTSB and we have to fulfill certain requirements in order to get money from them," Widen said.

    These requirements include things like having 12 public information activities a year, such as alcohol education classes, doing seatbelt surveys, working with other agencies and having a certian number of alcohol violations and drunken driving arrests.

    By fulfilling these requirements, the UNI police department gets things from the GTSB like radars, in-car cameras, promotional items and in-house training for officers.

    "There's usually something going on every month, but not necessarily increased enforcement," Widen said. "For example, we're going to get a set of ‘drunk' goggles and we will do classes with them in the dorms."

According to Wident, the UNI police departemtn participates in the national campaign so that students can be part of a safer, more aware campus.