All Highway Patrol Officers on the Road Today | Video

Retha Colclasure | 11/21/2012

If you thought there were a few more highway patrolmen on the roads than usual, you`re right. Every one of the 148 sworn officers available across the state was spending the day in a squad car.

"It`s been quite awhile for some of the officers but it`s good to get back out on the road. This is where we all came from, what we were trained to do," said Sgt. Tom Iverson.

It hasn`t been that long since Iverson has been on patrol. He`s been working at a desk job for a few months. And every uniformed officer does have a patrol car to drive. But some don`t have all of the usual equipment inside, so it`s not as easy for them to write up a ticket.

The officers are out looking for speeders, drunk drivers or anyone breaking the law in any way on the busiest travel day of the year.

"If it`s a slow day and we are out there giving an honest effort looking for violations, that`s a success," Iverson said.

It`s all in an attempt to help everyone get to their destination safely. So far this year, 148 people have died on the state`s roads. That`s just two below last year`s total. So this effort is less about writing tickets and more about keeping that number from climbing.

Iverson handed out five tickets and four warnings today, covered one crash and helped one person change a tire. If you think you`re in the clear to speed tomorrow, not so fast. The Highway Patrol is continuing overtime efforts throughout the rest of the year.

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