Alcohol-related fatalities down in Lafayette area

LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) - A coalition to fight drunk driving says it has helped boost the number of DWI arrests in Lafayette Parish and cut the number of alcohol-related injuries and deaths.

The group got a $1.3 million grant to increase DWI patrols, starting in 2009.

The number of arrests in Lafayette for impaired driving has risen from 211 in 2007 to 1,144 in 2011, and the number of fatal alcohol-related wrecks in Lafayette Parish from 24 in both 2007 and 2008 to 16 in 2009 and 11 in 2010, according to a report from the group.

"Our officers have to definitely take full credit for it," court services manager Kelly Mouisset, who heads the coalition for Lafayette Consolidated Government, told The Advocate.

The group was first called Lafayette Coalition to Prevent Substance Abuse but changed its name to The Knowledge Effect.