River Forest Police Target DUI and Unsafe Driving

River Forest police will be hitting the streets in the wee hours, hosting checkpoints and searching for impaired drivers and safety violations this Thanksgiving season. 

It's part of IDOT's Sustained Traffic Enforcement Program (STEP) initiative, which provides municipalities with supplemental cash to beef up traffic safety enforcement.

Police say officers will conduct saturation patrols and occupant enforcement checkpoints throughout River Forest. The effort begins Thursday and lasts through Nov. 27.

The scheduled patrols differ from a fixed safety checkpoint in that police cruisers will be out roaming the streets, looking for signs of impairment and speeding. And once probable cause is established, police said, that's when the stops begin.

River Forest Police Chief Gregory Weiss said in a statement “Statewide statistics indicate that the driving behaviors we are addressing through this enforcement effort are the leading causes of injuries and deaths on our roadways. During this enforcement period all of our officers will be strictly enforcing these statutes. Motorists should expect to receive a traffic ticket if stopped
for a violation, and to be arrested if they are found to be driving under the influence.”