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Suburban police cracking down on drunken drivers during holidays

Police in the Northwest suburbs will be cracking down on drunken drivers and people who don't wear their seat belts through early January, according to news releases from multiple law enforcement agencies.

Many local police departments have been awarded a traffic safety grant from the Illinois Department of Transportation's Traffic Safety Division that allows them to dedicate additional manpower specifically toward seat belt and impaired driving enforcement during the holidays.

The Bartlett Police Department will have an additional 20 patrol hours dedicated to enforcing seat belt use and an additional 50 patrol hours dedicated to impaired driving saturation patrols. Palatine and Prospect Heights police say they will be targeting drivers during peak hours when seat belt and impaired driving violations are more likely to occur.

Police in Arlington Heights, Elk Grove Village, Hanover Park and Wheeling will also be participating in the traffic safety campaign, most until Jan. 5. Residents are being encouraged by the departments to designate sober drivers or take a taxi home if they are planning to drink.

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