GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

The goal of Checkpoint Strikeforce County Teams is to prevent impaired driving crashes by conducting as many sobriety checkpoints as can reasonably be managed in a six-month period, as well as to highly publicize these enforcement efforts.

STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIES

In 2001, Delaware participated in the Checkpoint Strikeforce campaign, a sobriety checkpoint enforcement initiative headed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) Mid-Atlantic office. Delaware’s Checkpoint Strikeforce County Teams program is a new twist on the existing program. Delaware’s program implemented the following strategies and related activities to achieve its goals and objective:

• Enabled each municipality to host a sobriety checkpoint in its jurisdiction, thereby covering a much larger area within the state

• Asked each small municipal agency to "donate" an officer in their respective county to the Checkpoint Strikeforce County Teams program

• Formed "county teams" to operate sobriety checkpoints throughout the state

• Received statewide arrest authority from Delaware's Attorney General, alleviating any jurisdictional concerns for those officers participating in the program

• Ran one billboard ad in each of Delaware's three counties during its 2002 project

• Aired Public Service Announcements (PSAs) on multiple radio stations across the state to publicize the enforcement effort in 2003

RESULTS

Delaware’s Checkpoint Strikeforce 2002 project was very successful. The program achieved the following results:

• Operated 44 sobriety checkpoints during the project's six-month period

• Made 108 arrests for Driving Under the Influence (DUI) and 289 other violations (including drug arrests and wanted person apprehensions)

• Reduced Delaware's alcohol-related fatalities from 42 percent in 2001 to 36 percent in 2002

• Scheduled 109 checkpoints (an average of four per week) for 2003

In 2003, the Checkpoint Strikeforce project expanded to include officers donated from each county. The revamped Checkpoint Strikeforce County Teams project increased the amount spent on enforcement from $38,000 in 2002 to $120,000 in 2003. Additionally, the amount spent on media increased from $15,000 in 2002 to $65,000 in 2003. The County Teams project achieved even greater results. With 23 municipal agencies participating, Delaware’s 2003 project provided sobriety checkpoints covering nearly 70 percent of the state. The 2003 County Teams project achieved the following results:

• Operated 99 sobriety checkpoints during the project's six-month period

• Netted 388 DUI arrests and 1588 other violations (including drug arrests and wanted person apprehensions)

• Reduced Delaware's alcohol-related fatalities from 36 percent in 2002 to 34 percent in 2003 (preliminary data)