Drunk Driving Arrests Continue to Rise in Lubbock
Drivers in Lubbock are trending the wrong way when it comes to driving while intoxicated.
Data from the Lubbock Police Department shows that since 2019, DWI arrests have gone up. That includes a huge increase in arrests between 2020 and 2021.
According to KAMC, the Lubbock Police Department says that June has been the low point in the year over the past few years. Lubbock police believe that the city's lower population in June is why we see an overall decrease in DWI numbers. As summer school begins and students return to the Hub City, cases do traditionally rise.
Last year, DWI arrests jumped 31 percent over 2020. So far this year, the Lubbock Police have arrested 204 people for DWI, which is 30 percent higher than at this point in 2019 and 2020.
So what is the plan by the Lubbock Police Department to combat the issue? According to KAMC, this will be the first summer that LPD will be deploying target squads for traffic enforcement:
This will be the first summer that LPD is deploying their targeted traffic enforcement squads, which specifically search for drunk driving and other serious moving violations.
“We do take precautions and we change the ways we police based on certain days of the year or events that are going on,” Lt. Brady Cross said. “They are looking for intoxicated drivers and other driving offenses that are putting the public in danger. These are things they are targeting specifically.”
While numbers were sure to increase since 2019 and the pandemic when many people just stayed home, there's still no excuse to drive drunk. Not with all the different resources and transportation options that are now available, including taxis and Uber.