Bangor police will ramp up through Labor Day their efforts to curb drunken driving as part of a statewide campaign.
The checkpoints are part of the Maine Bureau of Highway Safety’s “Drive Sober” campaign, police announced Wednesday.
Police did not say where the checkpoints would be set up.
“Our efforts in this campaign will be focused on the times and locations where officers most frequently encounter OUIs within the city,” Sgt. Jason Stuart said Wednesday.
The highway bureau received more than $583,000 in federal funds as part of the national effort to curb impaired driving, Lauren Stewart, director of the MBHS, said Wednesday. More than 50 law enforcement agencies, including Bangor police, received grants to conduct checkpoints but departments choose when to hold them, she said.
So far this year, Bangor police have arrested 161 drivers for operating under the influence of intoxicants. In 2016, 245 people were arrested on that charge, according to statistics released Wednesday.
Bangor police have investigated 26 alcohol-related crashes this year, 13 of which included a person suffering injuries. Last year, Bangor police investigated 26 alcohol-related accidents. In 10 of those crashes, at least one person was injured.