PRESS RELEASE:
Police arrested four people for DUI, 10 people who possessed marijuana and a homicide suspect during a special “420” mobilization Monday.
The Kansas City Police Department and four other law enforcement agencies in the metro area teamed up on April 20 (4/20) to arrest those who were driving high. The day is a dubious holiday for the cannabis culture that encourages users to smoke marijuana, and police wanted to prevent DUIs associated with it. They also wanted to educate the public that a DUI isn’t just from alcohol but can result from driving drugged, too. So they saturated areas around schools as well as known party houses and areas of drug use.
During the special 420 operation, police checked 137 drivers, 36 pedestrians and 14 residences. The following resulted from those checks:
Arrests and recovered firearms
* 4 DUI Arrests, 2 of which were drug-related.
* 12 City Drug Arrests
- 8 of which involved marijuana recovered
- 2 of which involved marijuana pipes
- 2 of which involved methamphetamine pipes
* 4 Felony Drug Arrests
- 3 of which involved methamphetamine recovered
- 1 of which Alprazolam recovered
* 2 Firearms were recovered
Warrants cleared
State warrants cleared: 10
City warrants cleared: 59
Juvenile warrants cleared: 1
Citations issued during 420 project
Speeding 14 Signal Violation 4
Uninsured 14 Careless Driving 1
No Seat Belt 7 Other Hazardous 25
Other Non-Hazardous 31 Suspended Drivers 10
Other highlights
* A wanted homicide suspect was arrested on Kansas City’s East Side.
* A runaway juvenile was located in the Northwest portion of Kansas City.
* An illegal immigrant was arrested and turned over to I.C.E. Agents in the Northwest portion of Kansas City.
Kansas City police arrested 70 people in 2008 for DUIs that involved marijuana or other drug use. So far this year, Kansas City, Mo., has recorded five fatality crashes in which drug use was involved, and pending toxicology reports could push that number higher. In 2007 and 2008, the counties of Jackson, Platte and Clay had nine people die in car crashes in which the driver was impaired by drugs, including marijuana. Another 40 people had disabling injuries in such crashes.
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