Because it is one of the cities with the most alcohol-related traffic accidents with injury, White Bear Lake will soon be getting more funds to help police drunk driving.
Minnesota offers grants to areas where alcohol-related car accidents are at high levels, and White Bear Lake fits the bill. Beginning in October, White Bear Lake will receive $96,000 to help pay for an additional traffic enforcement officer who will have an extra emphasis on catching drunk drivers.
The grant will staff one additional police officer in the White Bear Police Department for a period of two years, and their objective is to identify drunk drivers and help keep the roads safe. Although the officer who will conduct the DUI enforcement hasn’t been made public, White Bear Lake Police Chief Julie Swanson said the officer is already a top performer on the force.
[The officer] “does really well with identifying a drunk driver, processing it, and obviously when they do a lot of them, they do a much better job in court.” Swanson said.
Swanson added that the grant money will also be used towards education efforts to help prevent drivers from making poor decisions behind the wheel. She also believes word about the DUI specialist will make its rounds throughout the community, hopefully helping people make smart decisions.
“I think we will see an increase in our DWI (numbers) … but I also expect that after the two years those numbers are going to go down because word travels. It’s a small town,” Swanson said.
White Bear Lake DUIs
After a spike in DUI arrests in 2017, White Bear Lake has seen a small decline in DUI arrests this year. There were 194 DWI arrests in 2017, and there have been 102 so far this year.
Both police and the city council believe the addition of the DUI-focused officer will keep the trend moving in the right direction. The city council unanimously voted to take part in the two-year program during a recent session.
White Bear Lake was the only suburban city in Ramsey County to receive the DWI Officer Grant. Here’s what the grant requirements state:
- The DWI officer must work between the hours of 5 p.m. to 5 a.m.
- No more than 15 minutes can be spent on calls not related to traffic enforcement or DWIs.
- If assisting others officers on unrelated calls for longer than 15 minutes, the city must pay for that time.
Ramsey county is second in the state in terms of the highest number of reported alcohol-related crashes, trailing only Hennepin County. The DUI-focused officer will begin policing White Bear Lake starting on October 1.
