Twenty officers and deputies from 10 agencies will be deployed to Lakewood Sat., Dec. 20 to look for drivers under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Additionally, the annual Tacoma-Pierce County Tow and Go holiday program will start Saturday night.

“Once the holiday celebration is over, you still have to get home safely,” said Bonney Lake Police Chief Mike Mitchell, chair of the Tacoma-Pierce County DUI Task Force. “Any drinking drivers who have not made plans for a safe ride home will discover that the task force has made plans for them.”

To reduce the number of impaired drivers attempting to get behind the wheel after leaving one of Pierce County’s 600 bars and taverns, the task force is collaborating with the Pierce County Towers Association to provide the tow program through New Year’s Day.

Bartenders at bars and taverns throughout the county will call one of the 16 participating towers to provide a ride home and free tow for an impaired driver.

“Initially, we thought the downturn in the economy might prevent some of the tow companies from participating,” said Bill Sullivan, owner of Liberty Towing. “But the towers dug deeper into their pockets to make this program happen. In fact, we have more towers participating this year than last.”

Participating towers include Burn’s, Bill’s, Gene’s, Tacoma, Lakewood, Western, Automotive, Emerald, Bline, J & J, Lucky, A-1, Puyallup, Engle’s, Bay View and Liberty.

Certified drug recognition experts also will be on the road as the countdown to the new year begins. These specially trained officers are called to vehicles to provide on-the-spot assessments of a driver’s suspected drug use.

Pierce County’s efforts are in conjunction with the Washington State Patrol’s ongoing DUI emphasis patrols and DUI patrols that are taking place in other Puget Sound counties. Law enforcement agencies across the county also are beefing up their regular patrols to look for impaired drivers as the Christmas season gets into full swing.