Halloween used to be a time for children to dress up as ghosts, cowboys and princesses to walk the neighborhood for candy. Today, the holiday is more of an occasion for adults to dress in wild costumes to attend parties with friends.
While the get-togethers can be great fun, the evenings can end on sour notes when you or a friend is arrested for drunk driving on the way home. In recent years, Colorado law enforcement agencies have been putting more resources into enhanced DUI enforcement efforts on Halloween night. With this year’s Halloween falling on a Friday, there is little doubt that Denver police and others across the state will out in force.
One of the places enforcement efforts will be heightened is south of Denver, in Englewood. The city plans increased patrols on Thursday, October 30 through Sunday night, November 2 (and into the morning of Monday, November 3). The increased patrols on Thursday and Friday night will be from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m., while the Saturday patrol is scheduled from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. Sunday night’s crackdown effort is from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Adams County promises saturation patrols from Thursday through Sunday, from 6 p.m. to midnight.
The city of Aurora will also have saturation patrols those same nights, but theirs will roll from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m.
Arapahoe County is also doing saturation; theirs are 9 p.m. to 2 a.m., Thursday, October 30 through Sunday, November 2.
More saturation is promised from Jefferson County on those nights, from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Mountain View says it will increase patrols throughout the weekend: 6 p.m. to 3 a.m.
Anyone arrested those nights in any of those counties, cities or municipalities should speak with an experienced DUI defense attorney before agreeing to plead guilty.
Source: Colorado Department of Transportation, “Enforcement Period Plans,” accessed Oct. 17, 2014