State Police Plans To Amp Up Patrols During Holidays

BERLIN – The Maryland State Police (MSP) this week announced a series of initiatives for the holiday season including stepped-up drunk driving enforcement and increased patrols in shopping areas to protect shoppers from would-be criminals.

The MSP Berlin barrack Wednesday announced its officers would be out in full force looking for drunk drivers during the holiday season with sobriety checkpoints and saturation patrols throughout Worcester County.

Beginning tonight, Friday, Nov. 28, and continuing throughout the holiday season, additional troopers from the Berlin barrack will be on patrol.

Modifications have been made to scheduled shifts and command personnel have been assigned to patrol functions during the holiday season. The increased effort is being funded largely with state grants designated for enforcement purposes, which will be used to increase the number of troopers on the road.

According to an MSP release, the effort is “intended to deter people from making poor choices who intend to drive after consuming too much alcohol, and remove the ones that choose to drink and drive on our highways.”

As always, the state police is urging area residents planning to consume alcohol to do so responsibly by always using a designated driver.

In addition to the increased drunk driving enforcement efforts, the MSP Berlin barrack is starting another holiday season-related initiative this weekend.

According to a press release distributed to the media Wednesday, the holiday season has historically seen an increase in criminal activity, particularly thefts and robberies. Much of this is attributed to the increased number of citizens doing holiday shopping, providing would-be criminals with additional opportunities.

To that end, beginning today and continuing through New Year’s Day, the MSP Berlin barrack is implementing a holiday bike patrol initiative.

Troopers have been assigned patrols in the West Ocean City area including shopping malls, shopping centers and the outlets during high traffic times, especially Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, throughout the holiday shopping season. The bike patrol initiative is a proactive effort to reduce crime and increase the visibility of law enforcement officials in an effort to ease concerns of shoppers during the holiday season.