Full Notification

From: Sergeant Ryan Cox
Date: May 19th, 2014
Subject: High Visibility OWI Task Force

On Saturday, May 17th from 8:00pm to 1:00am, the Sun Prairie Police Dept. joined several other agencies including: DeForest PD, City of Madison PD, Town of Madison PD, Verona PD, Cottage Grove PD, Maple Bluff PD, Capitol Police, Oregon PD, McFarland PD, and Shorewood Hills PD in a High Visibility OWI Task Force deployment in the City of Sun Prairie.


This was part of a multi-jurisdictional agreement funded by a state grant set up by Lt. Dan Furseth of DeForest PD. This was done in an effort to not only address traffic laws focusing around OWI enforcement, but also to raise awareness of drunk driving in our neighboring communities.


The areas focused on were Main St. from County HWY N to STH 151, North and South Bird St., and STH 19 (Windsor St.). These streets are major thoroughfares in our city and where most of our OWI related incidents occur.


The deployment resulted in 130 total stops conducted with 132 warnings and over 20 citations issued. These violations included speeding, suspended or revoked drivers, as well as drug possession. There were three arrests including an OWI arrest, an Operating with a Restricted Controlled Substance arrest and a warrant arrest. The deployment was a success not only in the traffic enforcement, but also in raising awareness with the public.


The OWI Task Force will continue with deployments throughout the summer and into the fall. The Sun Prairie Police Dept. thanks all of the agencies who participated in our deployment, and the public for their vested interest in keeping our city safe.