JACKSON, MS (Mississippi News Now) -
Officers from across the Mississippi were in the Capitol City Wednesday shining a spotlight on a constant problem while being recognized for their work in fighting against it.
To be a part of this club, you have to fight a statewide concern, and you have to be one of the men or women patrolling the roadways of Mississippi while doing it.
"This is all due to teamwork, departments working together."
Wednesday, the newest members of the state's DUI Club were officially recognized for their efforts in getting drunk drivers off the streets.
The state's top DUI arresting officer for 2010 is Harrison County Sheriff's Deputy Justin Branning with 297 arrests.
"You don't go out doing it for the recognition but it's nice to get a pat on the back," Branning said.
To Branning and the other officers, it's more than just writing tickets and making arrests, it's putting a stop to DUI related car crash scenes.
"The more people I pull off the street you got to think maybe one percent you stopped from getting into a car wreck maybe 10 percent you stopped from getting into a car wreck," Branning said.
"Saving lives. That's our main objective," said Lloyd Crosby with the Jackson Police Dept. "The more we're out there the more we enforcing, the more lives we save."
Crosby made 109 DUI arrests.
From 2009 to 2010 the number of alcohol related highway deaths in Mississippi decreased while the number of arrests; however, remained about the same.
Branning says that's because officers are constantly being proactive in making sure the streets are safe.
"We dedicate a lot of time to it, a lot of weekends that we're scheduled off we don't have off, we actually come in and we work all those hours," Branning said.
A common trend for agencies across the state for a problem that won't seem to go away.
"It's still there, it still happens and it's a regular basis," Branning said.
Copyright 2011 WLBT. All rights reserved.
Harrison Co. Sheriff's Deputy Justin Branning
WLBT 3 - Fox 40
