As it turns out the Bermuda Police Service (BPS) saw a relatively quiet Easter holiday weekend in terms of emergency, traffic offenders and criminal activity.

Following “proactive patrols throughout the Easter holiday weekend”, from 5pm Thursday, April 6th until 5am Monday, April 10th, a spokesman said there 23 people were arrested.

Those arrests consisted of:

•          11 for outstanding warrants

•          8 on suspicion of  impaired driving

•          1 for intruding on the privacy of a female

•          1 for wilful damage

•          1 for being drunk and incapable, and

•          1 for breach of the peace

Additionally, there were 31 stop and searches conducted and 72 traffic tickets issued.

Chief Inspector Robert Cardwell, Tactical Operations Division added: “Since last week Thursday, April 6th April through to Sunday, April 9th the BPS carried out roadside sobriety testing in various locations throughout the island.  There were 2,620 motorist engagements over the weekend. An engagement is where a motorist is stopped and a sobriety assessment is conducted. 12 motorists were tested on a roadside sobriety testing device. 8 failed this test and were arrested on suspicion of impaired driving.

“All were then taken to the Hamilton Police Station, to conduct the official alco-analyser. Six (6) refused to take the test, one (1) failed and one (1) passed. As a result, the person that passed the official alco-analyser test was released without charge, while the seven (7) other individuals have been released on police bail to attend Hamilton Magistrates’ Court in due course.””

During roadside sobriety testing exercises, he said six (6) people were arrested for outstanding court warrants and 46 moving violation tickets were issued for the following offences:

•          Tint                                   12

•          Licence plate                     2

•          Unlicensed vehicle         13

•          No insurance                   10

•          No driver’s licence            4

•          Youth licence offence       4

•          Defective vehicle               1

“There were also 5 motorist advice notices (official written warnings) issued. This represents an extremely productive, proactive policing weekend. On top of the roadside sobriety testing, officers also kept an eye on many of the social events occurring across the island. We are pleased that all of the events went off without incident.”