by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — The Wellington Police Department DUI task force garnered no arrests over Labor Day weekend during its three days of saturating the area looking for suspecting drivers.

“The program was a success,” said WPD Captain Paul Nefzger. “It did what it was supposed to do and that is to keep the public safe from drunk driving.”

The program, in conjunction with the Kansas Department of Transportation, saturated the area looking for people driving too slowly, crossing the center lines and running red lights in addition to other signs that indicate intoxicated driving. 

The WPD targeted drivers between 11 p.m. and 2 a.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The department made 18 stops for drivers making minor traffic infractions like having expired tags or no turn signals. Of those 18 stops, none of them were found to be drinking.

Officers were instructed if the driver has the smell of alcohol on his or her breath, if eyes were bloodshot or if speech was slurred then they were to take further action.

“We wanted people to know we were doing this,” Nefzger said. “The whole point was to decrease drinking and driving during a holiday weekend. And that’s what we did.”