It’s that time of year again. Cue that The Heat Is On Song from yesteryear and – if you’re a Colorado motorist – start scanning the roadway around you for a decidedly heightened police presence.
You won’t have any problem noting that something is, well, just a bit different.
In fact, a beefed-up street and highway display of police power has been apparent from last Friday and will remain pronounced through next month’s Labor Day. Let’s just notice something official: Colorado’s annual DUI Heat enforcement initiative is in what a state media account terms one of its 14 yearly “specific, high-visibility impaired driving enforcement periods.”
So, mark the date range of August 17 through September 4. You’re likely to see legions of state troopers and other law enforcers fanned out on roads across the state during that timeframe.
Hopefully you don’t become an ensnared motorist in the campaign, which, if you’ve been drinking, is a comparatively heightened possibility. Sobriety checkpoints will span the state, as will so-called saturation patrols marked by multiple police cars in limited areas.
Here’s the obvious question begging an answer: Just how extensive is the annual Labor Day crackdown?
In a word, big. Reportedly, nearly 90 law enforcement groups from all across Colorado are taking part.
With clout like that, results are guaranteed. Authorities are quick to note a centrally relevant statistic applicable to last year’s enforcement period. They stress their arrests of close to 1,200 allegedly impaired motorists during the 2017 campaign.
Law enforcers are undoubtedly eyeing that number as a baseline for this year’s initiative. We urge all our readers to take due care over the busy holiday season and to timely confer with a proven defense legal team should they find themselves facing a criminal law challenge.