Gwinnett Daily Post

Photo by Brian Giandelone

Gwinnett County police officers will be out en masse tonight and into the early hours of 2011, protecting innocent drivers from counterparts that may have celebrated New Year’s Eve a little too hard.

In addition to normal staffing in each precinct, more than 20 county officers will be devoted specifically to DUI patrol for the holiday, police spokesman Cpl. Jake Smith said Thursday.

New Year’s Eve typically has one of the year’s highest occurrences of drivers under the influence.

“Everybody will be on the lookout for DUIs in particular, in an effort to keep motorists safe,” Smith said.

During last year’s holiday, Gwinnett County police had 21 DUI arrests, “a lot for us to have in one day,” Smith said. Those numbers do not include any arrests made by city police departments.