Greenwood has not had a DUI fatality within the city limits since 2015, according to Greenwood Police Chief Ray Moore.
Moore and DUI officer David Layton credit extra street patrols for the lack of fatalities.
“For the past couple of weeks, I have had has many as five extra officers on the streets,” Layton said.
Layton said he makes roughly 13 traffic stops on a slower night and around 20 or more when it’s busy.
The department has made 151 DUI-related arrests in 2016 and 2017. Out of those 151, Layton made 136, Chief Ray Moore said.
Layton and Moore said Greenwood does not have an unusual amount of DUIs.
“We have a lot of traffic on Highway 82 right there alone. I stop people all the time headed to Greenville or coming from Starkville,” Layton said. “We don’t have an overwhelming problem.”
That doesn’t mean that driving while intoxicated isn’t a problem in general, Moore said.
“People don’t stop and think about the ramifications,” he said. “They don’t think about being impaired or taking someone’s life including their own.”
Layton, who is also the law enforcement liaison for the department, has worked to help the department receive and write grants. One of these is a DUI enforcement grant for about $30,000 that requires him and other officers to give 16 DUI-related presentations in schools across 10 counties, including Leflore. Eight other presentations are also required, focusing on safe use of seat belts and car seats.
Layton does DUI presentations about five times a year in Greenwood and has worked with several schools in the area including Greenwood High School, Pillow Academy and North New Summit School. He has also worked with East Elementary, Davis Elementary, Bankston Elementary and Holmes Community College.
Although he has spoken to students as young as kindergarten, his main focus is high school students.
“We go over actual statistics, tell them about previous accidents, and we have a question-and- answer portion,” Layton said. “A lot of the times they want to know where DUI laws come from, so we explain how they amend the laws every year.”
Layton also quotes statistics. For example, he said, “in the state of Mississippi last year, we lost 6,000 people under the age of 21 to alcohol-related accidents.”
Sometimes the presentation includes photos or an actual car that was involved in a drunk driving accident. Layton, who is responsible for the car idea, said it works and it is an eye-opening experience.
Outside schools, other groups in the community such as churches have asked Layton to speak to their youth about the dangers of drunk driving.
“In nine out of 10 counties, their fatalities have dropped. They are doing the same thing I am doing except the school presentations,” Layton said. “ I can’t say that the school presentations did it, but we are just a lot more people on the street trying.”
•Contact Lauren Randall at 581-7239 or lrandall@gwcommonwealth.com.
