Traffic enforcement efforts by Maryland state troopers during the six-week holiday period resulted in more than 47,000 traffic stops that led to more than 1,300 criminal arrests and almost 700 arrests of impaired drivers.
Maryland State Police patrol troopers began increased holiday traffic enforcement efforts on November 23, 2016 that continued through January 2, 2017. During that period, troopers arrested 699 impaired drivers, arrested 623 for criminal offenses and arrested another 724 people who were found to be wanted on warrants.
The arrests occurred during 47,555 traffic stops made by troopers working traffic safety initiatives that included additional patrols, sobriety checkpoints, saturation patrols, and speed enforcement. Troopers issued 27,149 citations, 31,906 warnings and 6,871 safety equipment repair orders. Troopers also wrote 388 civil citations for a variety of offenses. Troopers at each of the 23 Maryland State Police barracks were involved in special enforcement operations during the holiday period.
During this period, troopers responded to 21 fatal crashes. Of those, preliminary investigations indicate two are alcohol-related, two involved unrestrained individuals, and four involved pedestrians. Troopers responded to a total of 106 crashes that preliminary investigations indicate were alcohol related. (NOTE: This data is for crashes the Maryland State Police responded to and does NOT include total statewide data for all police agencies.)
Some of the increased enforcement included troopers working overtime initiatives. Funding for overtime enforcement was provided by the Maryland Department of Transportation Highway Safety Office.
