Crackdown On Drunk, Impaired Drivers Underway In 110 NJ Communities

NEW JERSEY — An annual crackdown on drunk and impaired drivers has begun, and 110 New Jersey law enforcement agencies received state grants to conduct sobriety checkpoints and have more officers on patrol.

These 108 police agencies and two county sheriff's offices split $540,680 in state funding for the annual "Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over" campaign, officials announced last week. The traffic safety blitz began on Friday, Aug. 16 and will run through Labor Day (Monday, Sept. 2), with the goal of reducing the likelihood of serious or fatal crashes by getting alcohol- and drug-impaired drivers off the road.

Grant amounts range from $1,050 up to $8,750, according to a list of recipients provided by Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and the Division of Highway Traffic Safety (HTS). The money will provide overtime funds for "enhanced patrols and high-visibility sobriety checkpoints during this busy and often dangerous time," officials said.

During last summer's "Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over" campaign, officers arrested 350 people for driving while intoxicated, wrote 1,220 speeding tickets, and issued 634 seat belt summonses, according to the AG's office and the HTS.

In the 2022 summer campaign, law enforcement agencies made a total of 169 impaired driving arrests and issued 348 seatbelt tickets, 240 distracted driving tickets, and 804 speeding tickets. Additionally, they wrote 609 other summonses for hazardous moving violations.

“Impaired driving is a direct threat to the safety of everyone on the road," said Michael J. Rizol Jr., Director of the Division of Highway Traffic Safety. "It’s a matter of responsibility: Each driver has a duty to make safe choices behind the wheel, for their own well-being and that of others."

New Jersey State Police data shows that the number of intoxicated drivers involved in fatal crashes climbed each year from 2020 to 2022, officials added. In 2022, there were 646 fatal collisions along Garden State roadways, and a total of 689 people died in these crashes.

"If you choose to drive while impaired, you're recklessly gambling with your life and the lives of the other people sharing the road," Rizol continued.

There were no police agencies in Cumberland, Salem, Sussex, or Warren counties that received grant money for the summer crackdown this year.

Here is the full list of grantees, and how much each agency received for the impaired driving crackdown:

Atlantic Co.

• Absecon: $2,800
• Atlantic City: $8,750
• Atlantic County Sheriff's Office: $2,100
• Brigantine: $2,800
• Egg Harbor City: $2,100
• Egg Harbor Township: $8,750
• Galloway: $8,750
• Hamilton: $6,720
• Hammonton: $2,100
• Longport: $2,100
• Mullica: $2,800
• Northfield: $2,100
• Pleasantville: $2,100
• Ventnor: $2,100

Bergen Co.

• Cliffside Park: $7,000
• East Rutherford: $7,000
• Englewood: $7,000
• Fairview: $7,000
• Palisades Park: $7,000
• Teaneck: $7,000

Burlington Co.

• Delran: $7,000
• Mount Laurel: $7,000
• Pemberton: $7,000

Camden Co.

• Oaklyn: $7,000
• Winslow: $7,000

Cape May Co.

• Lower Township: $5,250
• Middle Township: $5,250
• North Wildwood: $2,100
• Wildwood: $5,250
• Wildwood Crest: $2,100

Essex Co.

• Bloomfield: $7,000

Gloucester Co.

• Clayton: $1,120
• Deptford: $7,000
• East Greenwich: $2,800
• Franklin: $4,200
• Glassboro: $7,000
• Greenwich: $1,680
• Harrison: $2,800
• Logan: $3,360
• Mantua: $4,200
• Monroe: $2,800
• Paulsboro: $2,800
• Pitman: $4,200
• Rowan University Police: $2,520
• Washington Township: $7,000
• West Deptford: $5,600
• Westville: $3,360
• Woodbury: $5,600
• Woolrich: $1,960

Hudson Co.

• Bayonne: $7,000
• North Bergen: $7,000
• Secaucus: $7,000

Hunterdon Co.

• Clinton Town: $3,150
• Clinton Township: $4,550
• Flemington: $4,200
• Frenchtown: $3,500
• High Bridge: $3,150
• Holland: $3,150
• Lambertville: $3,500
• Lebanon: $2,800
• Raritan Township: $3,150
• Readington: $1,960
• Tewksbury: $3,150
• West Amwell: $3,500

Mercer Co.

• East Windsor: $7,000
• Hamilton: $7,000
• Lawrence: $7,000

Middlesex Co.

• Dunellen: $7,000
• Monroe: $7,000
• Old Bridge: $7,000
• Perth Amboy: $7,000
• Plainsboro: $7,000

Monmouth Co.

• Allentown: $7,000
• Belmar: $7,000
• Red Bank: $7,000

Morris Co.

• Parsippany: $7,000

Ocean Co.

• Lakewood: $7,000
• Ocean Township: $7,000
• Pine Beach: $7,000
• Stafford: $7,000

Passaic Co.

• Bloomingdale: $7,000
• Haledon: $7,000
• Hawthorne: $7,000
• Little Falls: $7,000
• Passaic: $7,000
• Prospect Park: $7,000
• West Milford: $7,000

Somerset Co.

• Bedminster: $3,500
• Bernards: $2,520
• Bernardsville: $1,050
• Bound Brook: $4,200
• Branchburg: $3,150
• Bridgewater: $3,500
• Far Hills: $3,500
• Franklin Township: $2,800
• Green Brook: $3,500
• Hillsborough: $4,200
• Manville: $3,500
• Montgomery: $3,500
• North Plainfield: $3,150
• Peapack Gladstone: $3,500
• Raritan Borough: $3,500
• Somerset County Sheriff's Office: $3,150
• South Bound Brook: $1,680
• Warren: $3,500
• Watchung: $3,500

Union Co.

• Cranford: $7,000
• Fanwood: $7,000
• Linden: $7,000
• Plainfield: $7,000