The patrol will put additional officers on the roadways of Leavenworth County at a time of year when, the Leavenworth County Sheriff’s Office says, people are attending Holiday parties and in some cases consuming more alcohol than they might normally.

A directed patrol’s main goal, according to Maj. James Sherley, is to avoid accidents and the injuries that so often accompany them.

“Our goal as an agency is to proactively address the problem of drunk driving to reduce the number of accidents,” Sherley said in a statement this week.

Sheriff Andy Dedeke and the Leavenworth County Sheriff’s Office are preaching the message that, if you have had too much to drink, the prudent decision is to “pass the keys to a sober driver.”

Sheriff’s Patrol Division Commander Lt. Eric Thorne will oversee the operation on Dec. 13.