Columbia City Council to consider increased funding for DUI patrols

On the agenda for Monday’s City Council meeting is an ordinance that would add $20,000 to help fund overtime pay officers patrolling for drunk or impaired drivers.

According to Missouri State Highway Patrol records, Columbia had 26 crashes that involved drinking from January to August of 2017. That’s down from 67 during the same period of 2016 and 64 in 2015.

DUI arrests in Columbia have gone up in 2017 from past years, as well. There were 303 arrests from January to August of this year, compared to 224 and 237 in 2015 and 2016, respectively.

The funding would be an addition to the DWI Unit Grant, which provides over $70,000 for training and wages for the DWI Unit. This grant has been renewed annually for the past five years, and is also on Monday’s City Council agenda.