A newly formed Wake County law enforcement task force will hold its first campaign this weekend.

Area law enforcement agencies are pooling their resources to create a Wake County Traffic Safety Task Force. The task force will be comprised of representatives from the majority of the law enforcement agencies located in Wake County.

The purpose of the task force is to afford agencies the opportunity to participate in campaigns, throughout the year, that focus on improving traffic safety in the county. These efforts will concentrate on DWI enforcement, speed enforcement, seat belt enforcement, and other traffic safety initiatives.

The participating agencies have pre-planned a number of combined events for 2009, which reduce the cost of hosting individual departmental checkpoints. The Wake County DA's Office, Magistrate's Office, and Breath Alcohol Testing (BAT) Mobile have also been included in the p lanning. Members in this partnership will share resources such as light towers, different speed enforcement tools, and expertise throughout the county.

"We are pleased to announce the Wake County Traffic Safety Task Force. The member agencies realize that the combined efforts of working together far outweigh the sum total of individual efforts," said Garner Police Lieutenant Bob Stevens, who serves as the Region Five Law Enforcement Liaison for the Governor's Highway Safety Program.

The task force will hold its first checkpoint this weekend, March 13-17, 2009, for the St. Patrick's Booze It and Lose It Campaign. The Wake County Sheriff's Office will host the event. Any questions about this checkpoint should be directed to Phyllis Stevens, WCSO Public Information Director.