03/18/13 — Officers catch holiday revelers

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Officers catch holiday revelers

By John Joyce
Published in News on March 18, 2013 1:46 PM

The final numbers are not yet in, but the first night's tallies from the St. Patrick's Day Booze It and Lose It campaign show the program is working.

The Goldsboro Police Department joined forces with the Wayne County Sheriff's Office and the Fremont and Pikeville police departments to conduct two George Street checkpoints Friday night.

One checkpoint was at the intersection of George and U.S. Highway 117, the other was at the corner of George and Sherman streets.

According to a press release issued by the police department's Operations Division, there were 10 arrests for driving while impaired, six open container charges, two drug charges and four other misdemeanor violations.

Additionally, 23 drivers were charged with operating a motor vehicle without a license and 14 were charged with driving while license revoked. Six more had registration violations.

Also present, as observers, were members of the Seymour Johnson Air Force Base's Security Forces Squadron. The law enforcement officers were able to use the BAT mobile, the Department of Health and Human Services' mobile forensic unit, to conduct breathalyzer tests on the spot.

Sgt. Josh Stine of the Goldsboro Police Department said this was one of the better checkpoints the departments have coordinated.

"Ideally, we would like to have zero DWI charges because that would mean nobody was out there drinking and driving," Stine said.

The campaign is part of the Governor's Highway Safety Program.