Officers Canvassing Bars For Drunks On New Year's Eve

NewsOn6.com

TULSA, Oklahoma -- More than two dozen officers, troopers and ABLE agents will be canvassing bars.

In addition to stopping drunk drivers on the road, they're also going to try to stop drunks before they ever get behind the wheel.

They'll be looking for those who are clearly intoxicated and arresting them.

They'll also be stopping people in parking lots before they drive.

Plus, bartenders face a felony arrest if they serve someone is who is already intoxicated.

Erik Smoot of the Able Commission says, "We've made three this year where we've actually gone back, where there's been a crash after they left a bar. We traced it back and charged somebody with furnishing to an intoxicated because that person either died or was injured in a crash."

Last year during a similar enforcement effort, there was not one crash in the Tulsa area during the eight-hour period from seven p.m. to three a.m.

Officers say that's rare.