VCU news

By Mike Porter

Virginia Commonwealth University Police will target drunken and drug-impaired drivers on Friday night, July 20.

VCU Police will operate a sobriety checkpoint from 7 p.m. until 11 p.m.  The checkpoint will take place along the 900 block of Cumberland Street. Officers also will check for seatbelt compliance.

The checkpoint is being funded through a Zero Tolerance Grant from the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. Officers from the Virginia State Police and agents from the Virginia Alcohol Beverage Control Bureau of Law Enforcement have been invited to participate in the operation.

According to the National Center for Statistics and Analysis of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, nearly 17,000 people in the United States, including 347 in Virginia, were killed in alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes in 2005, the most recent year for which such crash statistics are available.