Putnam County Sheriff Donald Smith and Town of Carmel Police Chief Michael Cazzari joined together on December 15th to kick off increased holiday patrols. The deputies and police officers from the agencies will be providing increased patrols with a primary task of taking impaired and drunk drivers off of the roads.  The extra patrols start today and will be in effect through the first of the new year.

According to Sheriff Smith, the holidays traditionally give rise to increased incidents of impaired driving and drinking-related crashes.  In December of 2016 alone 781 traffic deaths were attributed to impaired or drunk driving. 

To combat the elevated numbers, NYS Troopers, Putnam County Sheriff's deputies and Carmel police officers will be on heightened alert for impaired drivers.

"Christmas and New Year's Eve are occasions for the spreading of holiday cheer," said Chief Cazzari in explaining the increased patrols. 

Sheriff Smith said, "the advanced announcement of the stepped up anti-drunk driving efforts is aimed at discouraging drunk driving."

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