No trick: 24 DUI arrests in North Idaho

COEUR d'ALENE — Idaho State Police Troopers noticed two trends during operations of the North Idaho DUI Task Force this past Halloween weekend: There were a notable percentage of DUI drivers with excessively high blood alcohol levels, and a large percentage of DUI drivers located thanks to calls from other drivers.

"We work hard to let the public know we're out there and exactly what we're doing, which is looking to get impaired drivers off the road. It's very helpful to see the public support us in that," said ISP Sgt. Justin Klitch.

For Kootenai County, Friday night through early Sunday, the North Idaho DUI Task Force patrols resulted in:

• 24 DUI arrests, including five charged with Excessive DUI, which is a blood alcohol level of .20 or higher.

• 1 injury to a child

• 1 minor in possession

• 2 open container

• 6 misdemeanor drug offense

• 4 arrests for outstanding warrants

Troopers said two other statistics are most gratifying: It was estimated that 50% of DUI drivers were located thanks to reports from other drivers, and zero serious or fatal injury crashes during the Halloween weekend.

"It wasn't that long ago that North Idaho had a very high rate of alcohol-related crashes and local families were being torn apart by it," Klitch said. "Today, the rate of alcohol-related crashes in North Idaho has fallen considerably, and we know more families are whole because of that."