Suffolk County Sheriff Errol D. Toulon, Jr. announced today that The Suffolk County Sheriff’s Proactive Impaired Driver Reduction Effort (S.P.I.D.R.E) Team has increased DWI enforcement efforts, resulting in a 200% increase in DWI arrests and more than 100% increase for traffic infractions for the first quarter of 2023 in comparison with 2022. 

In the first three months of 2023, Deputy Sheriffs have completed nearly 50 DWI Arrests and 25 other arrests during DWI patrols, including four stolen/unauthorized use of vehicles, one outstanding warrant, and four counts of reckless driving. In addition, seven were charged with Aggravated DWI, which indicates a BAC of 0.18 and higher.

“We have increased our DWI enforcement efforts this year and will continue to crack down on impaired driving. These arrests have undoubtedly prevented tragedies from occurring on our roadways. Our highly trained DWI Enforcement Team will continue to be on the lookout for drunk and drugged drivers to keep our streets safe,” said Sheriff Errol D. Toulon, Jr.

The Sheriff’s Office DWI enforcement team, also known as the SPIDRE, is a grant funded unit that is comprised of specially trained Deputy Sheriff’s including Drug Recognition Experts. Since inception in 2015, SPIDRE has made over 1,000 drunk or drugged driving related arrests. 

For more information, contact PIO Vicki DiStefano at Victoria.distefano@suffolkcountyny.gov or Sgt. Thomas Shore at thomas.shore@suffolkcountyny.gov.