The range of partners and activities Cape Girardeau brings to their effort to prevent impaired driving exemplifies their approach. Information collected by the program (using both police reports and hospital e-code data) has led to the establishment of a special DWI detection police patrol that operates during those hours on Friday and Saturday nights when DWI is most prevalent. In addition, the Safe Communities program works

with other local law enforcement agencies on sobriety checkpoints, recognizing that a regional effort enhances the effectiveness of each community's activities.

In conjunction with MADD and the local court, the Safe Communities program operates a monthly victim impact panel for first time DWI offenders. During this period, first-time offenders sentenced to attend by the courts listen to a panel of victims describe the impact that alcohol-related traffic crashes have had on them and their families. Galnore reports that mandatory evaluation forms filled out by the offenders reveal that they believe the panel "hits home" harder than does the fine and "begins the process of getting them to think about what they are doing when they make the decision to drink and drive."

The Cape Girardeau Safe Communities Program is also working to teach teens not to drink and drive before they end up facing a DWI patrol or victim panel. Using TeamSpirit, a program developed in 1995 under a cooperative agreement between NHTSA and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Cape Girardeau Safe Communities has trained teams of adults in every high school in Cape Girardeau and several other communities. Each team develops an action plan to involve students in their schools in activities to prevent impaired driving. Many of the high school students involved become skilled peer educators who not only conduct traffic safety programs in elementary schools, but also take their skills and enthusiasm with them when they graduate and remain involved in efforts to prevent DWI when in college.

In addition to these programs, Cape Girardeau supports national initiatives including 3D month and the Red Ribbon Campaign, and works to promote bicycle safety and proper child safety seat use.

The program is having an impact. Galnore reports that alcohol-related crashes in her community have decreased by 30 percent in the past five years. The percentage of fatal crashes attributed to alcohol in Cape Girardeau is less than half the national rate.