[StBernard] Tossing 'em back in St. Bernard Parish? Sheriff's Office offering free holiday rides home

[Westley Annis]

Tossing 'em back in St. Bernard Parish? Sheriff's Office offering free
holiday rides home
Print Bob Warren, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune By Bob Warren, NOLA.com |
The Times-Picayune 
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on December 27, 2013 at 2:13 PM, updated December 27, 2013 at 2:22 PM

Since 1984, the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff's Office has given free rides
home during the holidays to people who've been drinking at bars and parties.
As New Year's Eve approaches, the Sheriff's Office reminds residents that
the program is once again in effect.

The Sheriff's Office annually provides its ride home program over the
Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's period. So far this holiday season,
deputies have given rides home to 20 people who have had too much to drink.

The Sheriff's Office also will team with State Police on Friday night to
conduct a sobriety checkpoint somewhere in the parish.

Sheriff James Pohlmann said the number of people who have called for free
rides is an indication that more residents are heeding advice not to drive
if they've been drinking.

"We have had 20 people through Dec. 26 call us at 271.2501 for a ride home,
and that is as many as we normally get through Jan. 2,'' Pohlmann said.
"That shows more and more people are understanding the message, 'Don't drink
and drive.'''

Nonetheless, Pohlmann said the number of DWI arrests in St. Bernard so far
this holiday period is about the same as in previous years, which, he said,
shows some people still haven't gotten the message.

"It is really a no-brainer. Why take the chance of injuring someone else or
yourself or getting arrested for driving while intoxicated?" Pohlmann said.
"We bring you home, no questions asked.''

Under the program, deputies pick up motorists who have been drinking and
drive them to their homes. If they live outside the parish, deputies will
take them to a Sheriff's Office sub-station where arrangements may be made
to have someone pick them up.