The Michigan State Police Office of Highway Safety Planning is dishing millions of dollars in federal grant funds to various police departments around the state for stricter drunk driving enforcement.

Many departments are aiming the grants toward Labor Day weekend, which has seen a large number of drunk driving cases in the past, said Lynn Sutfin, OHSP public information and marketing coordinator.

About 300 agencies in 54 counties have or will receive federal traffic safety funds, which will be used to increase the number of patrol officers and pay them overtime, from the state.

The Isabella County Sheriff’s Department received its grant, but plans on utilizing the money later in the fall.

“We try to coordinate it around football games, when there’s a lot of drinking,” said Sheriff Leo Mioduszewski.

The money will be dispersed to other local agencies as well, said Dave Sabuda, public information officer for the Mount Pleasant Police Department.

Operation C.A.R.E.

The state police also will be carrying out the separate Operation C.A.R.E. (Combined Accident Reduction Effort) initiative this weekend — a national crackdown not only against drunk driving, but unbelted drivers as well, said MSP Sgt. Jill M. McKelvey.

Last year, during Labor Day weekend, there were 12 traffic fatalities in the state. Four of the deaths involved alcohol and, in three, the drivers were not wearing seat belts, Sutfin said.

State troopers will put special emphasis on enforcing operating while intoxicated and seat belt laws as a part of the C.A.R.E. initiative, he said.

“In Michigan, we ask all police officers to not take unimportant calls and focus on hazardous driving this weekend,” McKelvey said. “Labor Day seems to be the worst (in terms of drunk driving) because it’s the end of the summer and a last hurrah.”

The initiative will focus heavily on freeways and on helping out stranded motorists. It began in 1977 by two sergeants from the MSP and Indiana State Police.

All 50 state patrol agencies and Washington D.C. now participate, as do commonwealth and territorial agencies of the United States. Provincial agencies in Canada are also involved.

“Basically, we want to reduce the crashes and we want to reduce the injuries that occur from them,” McKelvey said.

The step up in enforcement this weekend did not surprise Todd Levitt, a local student attorney.

“I do a lot of drunk driving cases,” he said. “Holidays are always the worst, because people spend time with their families, they’re camping, they’re partying. There’s 1.4 million people hitting the highways this weekend.”

E-mail the author: Jake Bolitho