Wilmington Police urge citizens to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day safely

Wilmington P.D., along with other agencies, will be monitoring the streets in larger numbers than normal because of the holiday.

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — People everywhere will be celebrating St. Patrick’s Day this weekend. This may include meeting up with friends, enjoying a green beer, and having fun. 

But Wilmington Police are ensuring the fun doesn’t get behind the wheel. 

Wilmington P.D., along with other agencies, will be monitoring the streets in larger numbers than normal because of the holiday. This increased patrolling hopes to work to avoid fatality and serious injury that is a result of driving while impaired. 

Wilmington P.D. has been practicing a governor’s highway safety program called Booze-It-and-Lose-It — a campaign that focuses on speed enforcement, general traffic enforcement, and driving while impaired enforcement. 

Biss Kistler, Wilmington Police Officer, “we do have some operations that we’re running tomorrow night and Saturday night – where we are utilizing other agencies including the sheriff’s office, highway patrol, Pender County Sheriff’s Office, Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office – we’re just gonna work together as one big unit and try to do some enforcement for driving while impaired.”    

Officer Kistler urges those that are celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, to do so responsibly. She says to to take advantage of ride-share, Uber, Lyft, or even an old fashioned taxi — to ensure you have fun but safely