Mahoning County OVI task force increases efforts to stop impaired driving
MAHONING COUNTY, Ohio - After less OVI patrols in 2020 due to the pandemic, the Mahoning County OVI Task Force is becoming more aggressive in its efforts to combat impaired driving.
The Task force was awarded more funds to put more resources on the roads to stop impaired driving. Several local police departments such as Boardman, Canfield, the Mahoning County Sheriff's Office, Poland and Youngstown are all involved with this added enforcement.
According to officers, within the past three years, there were over 400 alcohol-related crashes with 17 of them being fatal. Additionally, nearly 200 crashes were drug-related with 23 of them being fatal.
According to Canfield Assistant Police Chief, Scott Weamer, the locations of these checkpoints will be based on "problem identification."
"We look at where the alcohol-related crashes are in the county and the times and locations and that's where we focus our efforts on," Weamer said.
In 2020, 51 impaired drivers were removed from the roadways.
