By Jennifer Edwards
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Butler County law-enforcement officials Thursday declared the Thanksgiving holiday weekend traffic and DUI crackdown a success, saying extra patrols kept incidents down.

Butler and four other "target" Ohio counties received state grants in late October to launch countywide DUI task forces that will run through September. Alcohol-related crash deaths in the state had been increasing.

ALCOHOL ACCIDENTS

Butler County had the seventh-highest number of DUI crashes in Ohio last year, state records show. In 2001, there were 11 alcohol-related fatal crashes and 256 alcohol-related injury crashes, compared with four fatal crashes and 292 injury crashes in 2000, according to state records. The biggest month for alcohol-related crashes was June, with 181. State figures show the Butler highway with the highest number of alcohol-related crashes in 1999, 2000 and 2001 was Ohio 4, with 110. Also ranking high were: Ohio 129 in Hamilton with 35 crashes; Cincinnati-Dayton Road in West Chester with 35, U.S. 27 in Oxford with 29, Roosevelt Boulevard in Middletown with 22, Ohio 747 in West Chester with 22, and Tylersville Road in West Chester with 20.

Last weekend, 23 drunken drivers were removed from Butler County roads as police banded together in a five-day stretch from Nov. 27 to Dec. 1. Nearly all of those arrested were age 21 or older, police figures released Thursday show.

"I don't have any comparative data, but the numbers speak for themselves. If we've taken 23 DUI offenders off the road, that's several accidents that didn't occur," said Lt. Bob Holzworth of the Oxford Police Department, an organizer of the task force. "I am pleased to see there's not that many alcohol-related incidents. It was a team effort and we're off to a great start."

The state also has established its own 29-member DUI task force. It should begin meeting next year.

The group will outline ways to halt the increase and work with state officials to implement solutions such as a DUI data tracking system.

"This is an extremely serious problem for the state of Ohio. We have to get tougher and more effective with enforcing our laws and encouraging and educating people about the deadly combination that is created when someone drinks excessively and then drives," Gov. Bob Taft said Thursday in a phone interview. "We can do more to reduce these incidents. If we relax our enforcement efforts or roll back our education, there's no question we will increase."

Last year, the number of alcohol-related crash deaths in Ohio was 375, up 25 from 2000, though the number of alcohol-related crashes declined 18 percent to 16,795 from 20,583 in 2000.

In Butler County over the weekend, the Ohio State Highway Patrol, which focuses solely on traffic, nabbed more DUI offenders at various locations throughout the county than any other agency - 18 of the 23. Ten troopers were responsible for those apprehensions on Interstate 75 and elsewhere in the county, said Lt. Michael Black of the Highway Patrol's Hamilton post.

Fairfield Township, West Chester Township and Miami University police each arrested one DUI offender, while the Middletown Police nabbed two.

Out of 66 traffic accidents last weekend reported to Lt. Holzworth by Thursday, four were alcohol-related. The Butler County Sheriff's Office and West Chester and Hamilton police departments have yet to release their accident figures.

In all of the extended weekend, a total of 52 officers worked a combined 85 hours of overtime.

In 337 traffic stops, police issued 183 speed citations, 111 moving-vehicle warnings and 70 adult seat-belt citations.

Another 62 people were given moving citations, and police assisted 68 motorists.

The statistics do not include Oxford Township, which as of Thursday had not released its weekend statistics.

Three Butler police departments - New Miami, Ross Township and Seven Mile - could not participate in the task force because they do not have enough staff.

The Butler County Sheriff's Office did not join the first DUI crackdown or put out extra traffic patrols because it is moving from one budget year to the next, Sheriff's Capt. Mike Grimes said Thursday.

But the agency plans to use its portion of the DUI task force grant in 2003 when the reimbursable overtime money is available, he added.

"During the blitz period, we tried to maximize our assets as far as moving some people from different time slots to high accident time slots and providing some additional coverage there to maintain that high visibility to try to participate even though we weren't participating," Capt. Grimes explained.

A representative from each of the 12 police agencies that participated in the countywide DUI task force will meet Wednesday to review the blitz results and to discuss "hot spots."

Areas with the highest numbers of violators are likely to be selected for DUI checkpoints that are to begin Memorial Day weekend.

E-mail jedwards@enquirer.com.