A grant awarded to Edina in 2015 from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety’s Office of Traffic Safety division has funded a full-time drunk driving enforcement officer for the city. This position as well as the three major highways that cross the Minneapolis suburb have produced the state’s highest number of DWI arrests by population. In 2017, the law enforcement for the community of 51,000 made 476 arrests for impaired driving. Only Minneapolis police made more arrests for the same offenses, and that city has approximately eight times the population of Edina.
Traffic law enforcement has been a traditional priority for Edina. Police cars monitoring traffic from under bridges or along exit ramps are a frequent sight. According to the city’s police chief, residents complain about traffic violations on the busy highways.
Most traffic stops take place on Highways 100, Crosstown 62 and 169. These high-traffic locations accounted for roughly 60 percent of the DWI arrests in the suburb. Highway 100 alone produced over 200 arrests for drunk driving in one year. Edina police said that they tend to pull people over for speeding and then discover that some drivers are intoxicated. A blood alcohol concentration of .08 percent or higher exceeds the legal limit and results in arrest.
When law enforcement takes a person into custody for suspicion of drunk driving, a subsequent conviction could result in a high fine, a jail sentence, and a driver’s license revocation. It could even impact employment opportunities. As a result, having the representation of a criminal defense attorney could be advisable when attempting to devise a strategy to refute the allegations.