Starkville is about to start cracking down on driving under the influence thanks to additional funding for the DUI Enforcement Program.
Starkville Mayor, Parker Wiseman, said Starkville has a higher rate of DUIs than non-college towns. However, these statistics are similar to other college towns in Mississippi such as Hattiesburg and Oxford.
“What we have here is a relatively low rate of alcohol related accidents,” Wiseman said. “That shows that the DUI Enforcement program is doing what it is supposed to do, which is preventing accidents.”
To be more specific about these statistics, Starkville Police Chief David Lindley said Starkville is the 14th largest city in the state and is the 25th in the state in alcohol related crashes. In 2009, Starkville did not have any alcohol-related traffic fatalities, Lindley said.
“Right now we have four full-time DUI officers,” Lindley said. “Two are paid for out of the regular police budget and two are paid for with grants from the State of Mississippi Department of Highway Safety.”
Lindley said this is the third year in a row that Starkville police have made over 400 DUI-related arrests.
“We made 430 arrests in 2009, which is the most we have ever made,” Lindley said. “We attribute that to having more officers in enforcement and because more people are coming to Starkville to socialize from about a 50 mile surrounding area.”
There will be more people assisting the DUI officers working with the overtime grants. These people will be focusing on not only drinking under the influence but other alcohol violations such as minors in possession, Lindley said.
“This is due to the fact that we have more opportunities for people to come enjoy restaurants and bars in Starkville,” Lindley said. “We get more violations from people other than students. We get people from all surrounding areas and community colleges.”
George Carrithers, chief deputy with the Oktibbeha County Sheriff’s Department, said the department has always been very tough with DUIs and will continue to do so.
With Starkville’s extended bar hours, he said there are more drunk drivers on the roads.
Carrithers said he believes drinking and driving has gotten out of hand, and the department is trying to cure the problem.
“Keeping drunk drivers off the road is what we are elected to do,” Carrithers said.
Junior biological sciences major Mack Walters said he thinks the DUI crackdown is a wonderful idea for Starkville.
“Drinking and driving puts everyone on the streets at risk, not just the people participating,” Walters said. “The cops really need to crackdown on it until the problem is gone and the streets of Starkville are as safe as possible.”