Riverside Police Department was recently acknowledged by the Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists (AAIM) as the third most successful agency in Illinois in arrests for DUI per officer. Riverside ranked 7.56 arrests per officer and in 2016 Riverside officers made 136 DUI arrests with 18 sworn officers on the department.
Additionally, Riverside Police Department was the 26th overall agency out of 126 police agencies surveyed by the Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists for DUI arrests.
Riverside Police Chief Thomas Weitzel stated that Riverside Police Department is absolutely dedicated to removing impaired drivers from our roadways - including drunk and drugged driving.
Over the past two years Riverside Police Department has seen its drugged driving arrests rise nearly 26%. This includes motorists that are arrested for driving under the influence of illegal drugs, prescription drugs, and a combination of drugs and alcohol.
“There is no doubt that the lackadaisical view of society that cannabis is not harmful has directly impacted drugged driving. Of the 26% increase in drugged driving arrests, 19% of those were for driving under the influence of cannabis; it is not a recreational drug while you're operating a motor vehicle”, said Chief Weitzel.
Riverside Police Chief Thomas Weitzel serves as the chairman for both the MADD Illinois Law Enforcement Subcommittee on Impaired Driving and the Illinois Impaired Driving Task Force.
The only police agencies with more per officer arrests were Southern View and North Pekin.