Grant will allow more OUI patrols in Mass. town

The Patriot Ledger

HINGHAM, Mass. — Hingham police plan to use state grant money to step up patrols targeting drunken drivers during the holiday season.

Grants were awarded to 48 municipal police department by the state Executive Office of Public Safety and Security. They will be used to put additional patrols on the road from now to Jan. 1. Patrols will be focused on times of day and parts of town where past drunken driving arrests and crashes have occurred.

Hingham police have also launched two programs aimed at encouraging revelers to designate a sober driver before drinking. As part of an initiative launched last month, any eastern Massachusetts resident who pledges to serve as a designated driver, or at least use one, will be entered into a drawing to win a free evening of limousine service.

Police have also developed a program that allows designated drivers to get free non-alcoholic drinks at any of the 26 bars and restaurants licensed to serve alcohol in Hingham. For more information about the designated driver program, go to the Hingham police website at www.hpd.org.

Copyright 2012 The Patriot Ledger