Prosecutor Launches Continuation of DWI Checkpoint Program in Ocean County

Today, Ocean County Prosecutor Marlene Lynch Ford announce that the county planned to continue its own DWI checkpoint program, comprised of numerous checkpoints spread throughout the area.

"The program...is designed to regionalize and supplement local DWI enforcement. The purpose of these efforts is to detect, educate, deter, arrest, and vigorously prosecute impaired drivers, who each year are responsible for about a third of the deaths occurring on Ocean County roadways," Executive Assistant Prosecutor Michel Paulhus said.

The Prosecutor's Office added that in 2011, the number of fatal crashes in Ocean County was brought down to 53, as compared to 58 the previous year, in part through the efforts of the increased enforcement of county-wide DWI checkpoints. 

"The program itself, which is funded in part by the Ocean County Board of Chosen Freeholders and the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety, will be conducted by local police agencies in conjunction with investigators from the Prosecutor’s Office and Sheriff’s Department K-9 Unit focusing on both intoxicated and drug impaired drivers," said Paulhus.

The program is operated through the Prosecutor’s Vehicular Homicide Unit under the direction of Supervising Assistant Prosecutor Steve Cucci and Lieutenant Elliot Morgan.