Lenexa to step up DUI patrol
Aaron Cedeño | Staff Writer

The Lenexa Police Department will use money from Kansas’ Special Traffic Enforcement Program this month for an increased effort to combat drunken driving.

The department is one of more than 100 in the state to engage in the “Over the Limit, Under Arrest” campaign, which begins Aug. 14 and runs through Sept. 1.
Though STEPs throughout the year target certain things, such as seat belt use and drunken driving, participating officers look for other violations, said Sgt. David Rodlund.

“Even with (the other STEPs), the main thing might be seat belts, but they’re still out there looking for impaired drivers if we can find them,” he said.

Rodlund said the state wants agencies to focus on an element of drunken driving that often goes overlooked: motorcycles.

Because there are fewer of them, motorcyclists can go unnoticed. The state is concerned that there are just as many impaired motorcyclists.

“They’re out there; they just kind of get ignored,” Rodlund said. “You see one go by, but a lot of people just don’t focus on them unless they’re doing something obvious. Usually when we find out (about a drunk motorcyclist) they’ve already crashed, so we’ll hopefully try and stop them before that.”

The STEP funds enable Rodlund to pay a number of officers to work overtime shifts. Even with the long hours that police officers typically put in during a work week, he said, he never has had trouble finding volunteers.

“We’ve been doing this for so long that this is kind of what we do,” Rodlund said.

For more information, visit www.ci.lenexa.ks.us, or call the Lenexa Police Department at 477-7300.