State, local police plan Independence Day sobriety patrols, checkpoints in Westmoreland area

Beware, Westmoreland County drivers — local and state police are going to be keeping a close eye out for intoxicated motorists over the next several days.

State troopers and the Laurel Highlands DUI Task Force both said they plan to have roving patrols and stationary sobriety checkpoints around the area for the Fourth of July holiday weekend. Neither released specific details or locations.

For members of Troop A — which covers most of Westmoreland and Indiana counties and all of Somerset and Cambria — enforcement starts Wednesday and ends Sunday, according to details released by public information officers.

During the 2019 Independence Day holiday period, Troop A made 51 DUI arrests and investigated 43 crashes, four of which involved alcohol, according to state police statistics. There was one fatal crash and nearly 2,000 traffic citations issued.

The Laurel Highlands DUI Task Force will start its enforcement Thursday and run through Monday, according to information released by the group. All of the patrols and checkpoints will take place somewhere in Westmoreland County, police said.

The task force is made up of police in the following municipalities: Latrobe, Jeannette, Ligonier township and borough, St. Clair, Derry Borough, Mt. Pleasant Borough, Scottdale, Seward, Southwest Greensburg, Penn Township, Greensburg, North Huntingdon and Connellsville.

A 1990 U.S. Supreme Court ruling held that police have to announce checkpoints ahead of time to meet a minimal standard of consent — if drivers know there’s a checkpoint and still drive, they’re effectively acknowledging that they could run into the checkpoint and be stopped.