As previously publicized, the Baxter County Sheriff's Department recently participated in the two mobilizations under the National Highway Traffic Safety Agency's Highway Safety Grant funding. The two mobilizations were for DWI/DUI Enforcement and were conducted from March 11-20 and April 15-24, 2011.

     The increased activity by officers working overtime under the grant funds resulted in the following grant-tracked enforcement activities:

• Two felony arrests including one recovery of a stolen vehicle,
• One citation for Failure to use a seat belt,
• Two arrests for Driving While Intoxicated,
• Three citations for Driving on a Suspended/Revoked license,
• Two citations for No Proof of Insurance,
• One misdemeanor arrest for Possession of a Controlled Substance.

Additional activity which is not tracked under the grant, included:

• Two arrests for Minor in Possession,
• One arrest for Public Intoxication.

     This activity was the result of individual officers working a total of twenty-eight hours of voluntary overtime, during which they are restricted to conducting only traffic-related enforcement activities under the grant.

The STEP Grant Agency Coordinator is Baxter County Deputy, Sgt. Andy Bower.

Sheriff John Montgomery