For cops, the holidays mean more than celebrations

During his presentation for the Toward Zero Deaths campaign at the Lonsdale Police station on Wednesday night, Faribault Sgt. Mark Krenik put it like this:

“Isn’t it funny that some people have a harder time deciding what they want from a menu than going to a restaurant, having five, six, seven drinks and getting behind the wheel and driving away? … They won’t think twice. That is unacceptable. And that’s what we’re fighting for.”

Toward Zero Deaths is a statewide program with the goal of eliminating traffic fatalities and injuries by using data, research, education and enforcement.

While it’s a serious topic, Krenik wasn’t afraid to share his sense of humor while recounting recently checking on a vehicle that had exited I-35 into Faribault.

“I’m watching him and then he comes to an abrupt stop,” Krenik said. “I’m looking over there (and thinking) there must be something going on. So I went over there and I pull up behind him. What was he doing? Why did he have to get off the interstate so fast?”

Rice County Sheriff Jesse Thomas asked, “Bathroom?”

Krenik responded: “I pull up behind him and he was peeing. So I put my lights on, park behind him, go up and introduce myself.”

The room laughed after Thomas asked, “You didn’t shake his hand, did you?”

The holiday season can bring a lot of families together to celebrate. But, especially for the police, the holidays bring a much darker reality to the forefront of the conversation.

During his presentation for the Toward Zero Deaths campaign at the Lonsdale Police station on Wednesday night, Faribault Sgt. Mark Krenik put it like this:

“Isn’t it funny that some people have a harder time deciding what they want from a menu than going to a restaurant, having five, six, seven drinks and getting behind the wheel and driving away? … They won’t think twice. That is unacceptable. And that’s what we’re fighting for.”

Toward Zero Deaths is a statewide program with the goal of eliminating traffic fatalities and injuries by using data, research, education and enforcement.

While it’s a serious topic, Krenik wasn’t afraid to share his sense of humor while recounting recently checking on a vehicle that had exited I-35 into Faribault.

“I’m watching him and then he comes to an abrupt stop,” Krenik said. “I’m looking over there (and thinking) there must be something going on. So I went over there and I pull up behind him. What was he doing? Why did he have to get off the interstate so fast?”

Rice County Sheriff Jesse Thomas asked, “Bathroom?”

Krenik responded: “I pull up behind him and he was peeing. So I put my lights on, park behind him, go up and introduce myself.”

The room laughed after Thomas asked, “You didn’t shake his hand, did you?”

Krenik said he didn’t shake his hand, but he did start up a conversation with him, quickly noticing the man’s slurred words and bloodshot eyes. The point, he said, was what could’ve happened, if he let the man go back to driving 70 to 80 mph on the interstate while impaired.

Impaired driving was once a “nighttime problem,” according to Krenik. This is no longer the case.

With “drug driving” on the rise in Minnesota, impaired driving has begun to creep its way into the daylight, according to Scott McConkey, the Minnesota Department of Traffic Safety law-enforcement liaison for southern Minnesota.

In fact, from 2012 to 2016, there were just under 7,000 incidents in Minnesota involving someone driving under the influence of drugs. From 2017 to 2021, that number increased 227%, pushing 16,000.

Of course, alcohol and drugs aren’t the only reasons for traffic fatalities. Speeding, distracted driving and not wearing a seatbelt are also top contributors.

For Krenik, crashes caused by speeding are especially personal. In December 2019, his daughter was driving near Mankato.

She approached a curve, “probably going a little too fast,” when she hit a patch of ice and lost control. Her car rolled three or four times, and eventually ended up just off the road, laying on its passenger-side doors.

She climbed out the driver-side window, which had shattered and left her with a few cuts. Those were the only injuries she sustained from the crash. On the other side of the road from where her car landed, a lake with a thin sheet of ice could have caused her to drown or freeze.

Officers honored

While the stats are staggering, it isn’t all bad news. Since implementing the TZD program in 2015, some police officers have set records by getting unsafe drivers off the streets.

This year’s honorees include Rice County Sheriff deputy Larry Stone.

“Deputy Stone — you’re fortunate to have him,” McConkey said as he handed him the DWI All Star Bat. “I want to congratulate him and thank (him) for being here.”

Another honoree was Faribault Police Officer Jacob Charlton. He made 71 DWI arrests during the last grant year, which is 21 more than the previous honoree.

“(Charlton) has really excelled in traffic enforcement and primarily impaired driving,” Krenik said before handing him an award. “… (His DWI arrests) is a tremendous number. I think it’s the highest in my almost 23 years. I don’t think anybody in our department has higher.”

Charlton will be going to school in January to become a drug-recognition expert. According to Krenik, “he’s really well ahead of the game in that respect.”

Lastly, Lonsdale Police officer Jack Schleichert pointed out the efforts of Lonsdale’s newest, Officer Cody Brotherton. Brotherton recently has worked with the state department to get Lonsdale a machine that measures blood-alcohol levels in the office.

While the handheld breathalyzers still work, their results are inadmissible in court. With the new machine, Lonsdale police will no longer need to drive to Faribault to get the evidence for court.