Clay County Sheriff's Office sees alarming spike in drunk driving crashes

The Clay County Sheriff’s Office is raising concerns as the number of drunk driving crashes continue to grow across the county.

During a recent crime meeting, law enforcement saw an alarming rise in the number of alcohol-related crashes. In 2024 so far, the county is currently seeing the same number they saw for all of 2023.

“Don't have a good idea exactly why the increase is, but we are still seeing the same number of dangerous players in this mix right here," said Sgt. James Bush.

According to the sheriff's office, the county is on pace to see an 8% increase for this year. Numbers impacting families. So far this year, there have been 76 alcohol involved traffic crashes, including 32 injuries and 2 fatalities.

“There are a lot of consequences to drinking and driving. First of all, there's the possibility that you could seriously hurt yourself or someone else or possibly even die."

Sgt. Bush said arriving to someones home and baring the bad news is always the most difficult part of his job.

“It just tugs at you. There's nothing quite like it. There's no way you can really explain it to someone who hasn't done it," said Sgt. Bush.

To increase their efforts the sheriff's office recently partnered up with the Kansas City Police Department through a grant-funded program.

“Our traffic safety unit at the Sheriff's Office also is out there on a nightly basis making sure that we're out there trying to locate impaired drivers and trying to stop dangerous driving as well to send a message that it's not going to be tolerated because it has deadly consequences.”
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