CARIBOU, Maine — Caribou Police Department plans to recruit extra officers during Fourth of July week. In addition to impaired driving and speeding, the extra officers will be looking for traffic and criminal violations.
The department will fund the patrols with money from the Maine Bureau of Highway Safety, an organization that annually awards grants to police departments around the state to help officers assist in patrolling during times of the year in which traffic violations are more likely to occur.
The bureau also awarded grant money to the department in 2018 for similar purposes, and last year Caribou Police Chief Michael Gahagan said this funding is primarily used to help him and his officers concentrate on “holidays and special times of the year.”
Both the Maine Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws and Dirigo Safety programs have provided Caribou Police Department with funding to assist officers in their search for any underage drinking that may occur during the week containing Independence Day.
“The goal of these enforcement grants is to keep the public safe, reduce traffic crashes on Maine’s roadways, and reduce underage drinking,” a press release issued by the department indicated.
