'Operation Nighthawk' DUI Checkpoint, In Its 21st Year, Comes To Town

EASTERN MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PA — An annual DUI checkpoint, which this year is celebrating its 21st anniversary, will be taking place this coming weekend.

'Operation Nighthawk,' which is one of many Pennsylvania State Police law enforcement initiatives to take place each year, will occur the weekend of Aug. 13 in eastern Montgomery County.

Members of the Eastern Montgomery County Impaired Driving Task Force will be out in full force conducting DUI checkpoint operations and roving patrols in the region.

This year marks the 21st 'Operation Nighthawk' program, and it is being dedicated to fallen Pennsylvania State Police Troopers Branden Sisca and Martin Mack.

The two troopers were killed earlier this year by a suspected drunk driver. They were attempting to help a pedestrian along Interstate 95 in South Philadelphia by the sports stadium complex when they were fatally struck by a Montgomery County woman suspected of driving under the influence.

Organizers of 'Operation Nighthawk' say that the goal of the enforcement detail is to get impaired drivers off of local roadways.

The Eastern Montgomery County Impaired Driving Task Force is made up of police officers from Abington, Cheltenham, Jenkintown, Lower Moreland, Springfield, Upper Dublin, Upper Moreland and Whitemarsh.

Participating officers undergo classroom instruction, get a chance to listen to motivational speakers, receive current legislative updates and then go on to conduct roving DUI patrols in the county, according to a news release about the program.

Specifics as far as proximate locations of the DUI checkpoint and roving patrols this coming weekend were not released by police.