Anchorage holiday impaired driving continues upward trend

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Impaired driving arrests increased during the holiday season in Alaska’s largest city despite a police campaign to raise awareness, according to the Anchorage Police Department.

Final figures tallied for December show Anchorage police made 162 arrests for impaired driving, a dozen more than in December 2018, said spokeswoman Renee Oistad by email.

Police before the holidays attempted to raise awareness of the dangers of impaired driving by erecting a bare Christmas tree at police headquarters. They added a blue ribbon for every arrest of drivers impaired by alcohol or drugs and by mid-month ran out of blue ribbon.

December impaired driving arrests have trended up for the last four years. Anchorage police arrested 130 driver in 2016, 139 in 2017 and 150 in 2018, according to figures provided by Oistad.