Police, fire departments in Iowa plan for busy Memorial Day weekend

Expect to see an increase in law enforcement this Memorial Day weekend.

Police and sheriff departments throughout the state and in the corridor will be ramping up their patrols and on the look out for drunk drivers, speeders and those not wearing their seat belts.

'This weekend, the police department will have increased officers out there,' said Greg Buelow, public safety spokesman for Cedar Rapids. 'One of the concerns on Memorial Day weekend is impaired drivers. Officers will be out in force ... making sure people get to and from their locations.'

According to AAA, 36.1 million Americans are expected to travel 50 miles or more from home over the weekend. That's a 1.5 percent increase over there 35.5 million who traveled over the holiday weekend last year.

Gas prices are 56 cents lower in Iowa compared with last Memorial Day — $3.46 on Thursday compared to $4.02 last year — which will be another incentive to pack the car for the three-day weekend, said Gail Weinholzer, director of public affairs for AAA in Minnesota/Iowa.

The number of squad cars out on the streets and highways will increase this weekend as well. Across the state, local, county and state law enforcement officers will be out as part of the Governor's Traffic Safety Bureau's 'Click It or Ticket' enforcement campaign. Last year's campaign resulted in 31,480 traffic violations, including 12,450 for speed, 2,630 for seat belts and 530 drunken driving stops, according to the Iowa Department of Public Safety.

There were three traffic fatalities in Iowa during the Memorial Day weekend last year, two of which were alcohol related.

Both the Iowa City Police Department and Johnson County Sheriff's Office plan to have more officers out this weekend.

'We're going to have extra cars out at peak times for traffic,' said Capt. Gary Kramer of the sheriff's office.

Kramer said he anticipates deputies will be doing speed enforcement in high traffic areas in the county. Memorial Day weekend is typically one of the three busiest weekends of the year for the sheriff's office, Kramer said.

The sheriff's office enforcement efforts won't be limited to the streets, however.

'We're also going to have our patrol boat out on the reservoir at least two out of the three days,' Kramer said. 'We'll be looking for impaired boaters. We'll be doing safety checks.'

Weinholzer said Memorial Day kicks off the beginning of the 100 deadliest days of the year on the roads.

People tend to slow down for slick roads in the winter but speed up in good summer weather, which can be a deadly recipe for collisions, she said.

'Memorial weekend kicks off the 100 deadliest days of the year, through Labor Day,' Weinholzer said. 'There's more fender benders in the winter, but there's more fatalities in the summer.'

In Iowa, 81 percent of residents are expected to take a trip of 50 miles or longer in the next three months, according to a recent AAA Consumer Pulse Survey.

City destinations were the top choice for 48 percent of respondents, followed by 22 percent who are heading for a beach, and 17 percent cruising to a theme park.

Police officers aren't the only ones who can expect a busy weekend. With Memorial Day comes grilling and recreational fires and with those come more calls for the fire department, Buelow said. Buelow said the fire department's biggest concern is that people grill safely and build their recreational fires in a safe manner. That means attending to them at all times, not building them to close to a house or other structure and not burning unauthorized materials like garbage and leaves.

Gazette reporter B.A. Morelli contributed to this story.

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