The River Forest Police Department has nabbed a $29,000 grant from the state of Illinois, money that they’ll use to pay their officers overtime to do extra DUI enforcements over the course of the next year.
Beginning Oct. 1, River Forest will be taking part in the Illinois Department of Transportation’s Sustained Traffic Enforcement Program, which will reimburse the village for patrol car mileage and officer overtime.
As part of the program, officers will target people driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, as well as excessive speeders and those who don’t buckle their seatbelts.
With their overtime hours, cops will conduct five separate campaigns focused around times of the year that tend to have higher rates of injury and death — a.k.a. holidays.
“We will be strictly enforcing these laws, and motorists should expect to receive a traffic ticket if stopped,” Interim Police Chief Gregory Weiss said in an e-mailed statement.
