MADD Awards Honor Police, Criminal Justice Agencies for Anti-DWI Effort

by Morgan Montalvo

1200 WOAI News

Law enforcement  agencies and their criminal justice partners across Bexar County are  receiving collective recognition for their work in taking - and keeping -  drunken drivers off the streets, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.

The annual "take the  Wheel" Awards are a high-profile way the local Mothers Against Drunk  Driving chapter thanks area peace officers, probation officers and  department administrators for anti-DWI efforts.

MADD's Bexar County  chapter this year is recognizing about 80 individuals at the local and  state levels in varied categories, the group's Jackie Ipina tells WOAI  News.

"Not necessarily are  they arresting people," says Ipina, 'but they're educating, providing  prevention to community partners, to college students, to people all in  Bexar County."

She says the area's small police agencies deliver big results when it comes to dealing with impaired motorists."

Even through they're  small departments, they might not have a specific unit for traffic  safety but they still do their job of trying to get these drunk drivers  off the road," Ipina says.

Each year, according  to figures provided by MADD, police arrest about 1 million drivers in  the U.S. for drunken or drugged driving. 

On average 45,000 of those  arrests are made in Bexar County, Ipina says.


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