Sobriety Checkpoint Planned by Berlin Police

Holiday revelers who drink and drive — beware.

The Berlin Police Department has obtained a grant from the Connecticut Department of Transportation’s Highway Safety Division that will pay for increased drunk driving detection and enforcement efforts.

The enforcement program, which is aimed at reducing accidents cause by drunk drivers, will continue through Labor Day 2016. The grant provides 75 percent reimbursement of the overtime costs related to these efforts. The grant will help to provide funding to staff additional DUI patrols as well as roadside sobriety checkpoints. Roadside sobriety checkpoints have been shown to be the most effective method to detect and apprehend drunk drivers, according to police.

Additional DUI patrols may be conducted on Wednesday through Saturday nights on selected dates and times during the coming year. The patrols will specifically target DUI operation but will also enforce any other violations observed during the course of the operation.

As part of this a program DUI sobriety checkpoint will be conducted on the evening of Friday, Dec. 4. This checkpoint is a regional effort with officers from the Newington, Wethersfield, Rocky Hill and Cromwell Police departments participating.

The checkpoint will be set up on the Berlin Turnpike south of Deming Road.