Missoula DUI Arrests Spike, Double Normal Rate Over Weekend
Missoula Police were busier than usual this past weekend when it comes to DUI arrests. According to Public Information Officer Travis Welsh, police arrested nearly double the amount they typically do on a weekend.
“We don’t exactly know the cause of it or why it happened this particular weekend, but we made 12 DUI arrests between Friday and Sunday night,” said Welsh. “I would estimate that on average we see anywhere from four to six DUI arrests on a given weekend.”
St. Patrick’s Day is rapidly approaching and that holiday usually leads to multiple DUI arrests. Welsh says the Missoula Police Department is already preparing for the celebration on March 17th.
“We will have an operations plan for that particular holiday,” Welsh said. “Going forward, we haven’t really drawn any conclusions from the fact that we made this many arrests on a weekend. What we hope of course is that everybody has safe and happy weekends without tragedy, like we saw with the fatality on Mount St. last weekend.”
One might imagine that most DUI arrests occur in the Downtown area, but Welsh says DUI arrests are being made everywhere in Missoula.