APD Begins Crackdown

The Austin police department is once again heading up the Home for the Holidays campaign to reduce the number of lives lost from Thanksgiving through New Year's Day.

"It is a program that is meant to save lives, to reduce injuries and to get people home to their destination without losing their life or getting injured," said Austin police chief Art Acevedo.

The campaign, in conjunction with the Ticketing Aggressive Cars and Trucks program (TACT), will focus on drivers who speed, tailgate, weave in and out of traffic, and people who drink and drive. Chief Acevedo believes the extra force, which will include hundreds of officers who do not normally patrol the highway, will cut down on the number of lives lost.

"Last year at this time, 53 Austinties had lost their lives needlessly as a result of traffic fatalities and sadly I’m here to say today that this year we’re up to 57," said Chief Acevedo outside of APD headquarters Monday.

Chief Acevedo issued a challenge:

"If we’re as educated as we claim to be and sophisticated as we like to think we are, then I’m going to urge you for the rest of the year to not drink and drive, to wear your seat belt, to slow down, to stop for red lights and to treat that vehicle for what it is, and that is a deadly weapon when not driven properly," said the chief.

In 2008, APD officers issued nearly 5,000 citations and arrested 123 people; seven of the arrests were people charged with DWI.

Chief Acevedo says every driver will be held accountable.