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<br /> <br />www.ci.mounds-view.mn.us <br />8 <br /> <br /> <br />Safe and Sober <br />The early winter months traditionally are a slow period for <br />organized enforcement waves and 2009 proved no exception. <br />However with the arrival of spring, the May seat belt saturation <br />produced surveys indicating seat belt usage had increased. <br />The enactment of the primary seat belt law in June has <br />appeared to increase seal belt usage. The result from this law <br />is that law enforcement may now stop a vehicle solely for the observation of failing to wear a <br />seat belt and subsequently issue a citation. <br /> <br />During the final quarter of 2009 our department participated in two Safe & Sober enforcement <br />saturations. <br /> <br />During October, another seat belt event occurred and was quite successful. Initially, a rise in <br />citation numbers was noticed, but as the public is becoming more aware of the new law, seat <br />belt citations appear to be more difficult to observe. <br /> <br />The positive news is that in another recent seat belt survey Mounds View’s seat belt <br />compliance rose from 82% to 91%. In December we held a DWI Saturation event in which 6 <br />people were arrested for DWI with an average BAC of .156. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />The Police Department has been an active participant in the <br />Ramsey County Traffic Safety Initiative which is a <br />collaborative effort that includes all of the law enforcement <br />agencies in Ramsey County and the Minnesota State Patrol. <br />Working together with the Office of Traffic Safety, the goal of <br />this initiative is to reduce the number of traffic crashes and deaths due to impaired driving. <br /> <br />The Ramsey County Traffic Safety Initiative conducts high visibility saturations several times <br />a month in an effort to enforce impaired driving laws and educate the motoring public about <br />the dangers of drinking and driving. These high visibility saturations focus on specific <br />roadways throughout Ramsey County. <br /> <br />All of the law enforcement Officers working these saturation events wears high visibility <br />Traffic Safety vests and there are portable signs that are placed along the targeted roadway <br />which warn the motoring public of our event. Mounds View hosted a high visibility saturation <br />event on June 6, 2009 and plans to host two additional events next year. <br /> <br /> <br />