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Michigan State Police increase Thanksgiving holiday weekend patrols

Michigan State Police
Michigan State Police

The Michigan State Police will assign more patrols to Michigan roadways to protect drivers over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. The MSP received a 10-thousand dollar grant to cover the additional staffing.

Captain Thomas Deasy says troopers will focus on pulling over distracted or impaired drivers. He says last year more than three-thousand people in Michigan were involved in crashes where drivers were distracted by their cell phones.

“One of the things we do with operation CARE is not only add extra troupers on the road but we actually ask our troopers to forgo some of the less glamorous aspects of police work… report writing and that kind of a thing so that we have as close to 100 percent of our time dedicated during the holiday season dedicated to making Michigan roads safer.”

Deasy says all vehicle passengers should wear seatbelts. He says they can mean the difference between life and death in many collisions.

Patrick joined WGVU Public Media in December, 2008 after eight years of investigative reporting at Grand Rapids' WOOD-TV8 and three years at WYTV News Channel 33 in Youngstown, Ohio. As News and Public Affairs Director, Patrick manages our daily radio news operation and public interest television programming. An award-winning reporter, Patrick has won multiple Michigan Associated Press Best Reporter/Anchor awards and is a three-time Academy of Television Arts & Sciences EMMY Award winner with 14 nominations.