At 8 p.m. Friday, law enforcement radio traffic increased as the countywide saturation patrolling of Iowa Highway 141 began.
The beefed-up patrol was part of Iowa’s Special Traffic Enforcement Program, aiming at identifying impaired drivers on Dallas County’s busiest state highway.
The program combined the forces of the Perry Police Department, Dallas County Sheriff’s office, Woodward Police Department and the Iowa State Patrol.
Funded by a grant from the Iowa Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau, the Dallas County program was coordinated by Perry Police Department Sgt. Matt Aswegan.
“I’m guessing Highway 141 is about the safest highway in Iowa tonight,” Aswegan said at about 10:30 p.m. He said no OWI arrests were made yet but the saturation patrolling would be ongoing Friday night.
He said data from the safety exercise would be compiled from the four law enforcement agencies and released in a few days.
Aswegan said the state grant funding pays for officer overtime needed to staff the patrols as well as some equipment, such as preliminary breath screening test kits. The current wave of traffic-safety projects will run until Sept. 3.
