The Fremont County DUI Task Force was out in force over the Super Bowl weekend. Between Feb. 6 and 8, officers from multiple agencies made 213 traffic stops, arrested one impaired driver, and issued 46 speeding citations.
The task force consists of personnel from the Wyoming Highway Patrol, Fremont County Sheriff’s Office, and the Lander, Riverton, Shoshoni, Dubois, and Wind River police departments. They coordinate to patrol Fremont County, deter impaired driving, and keep communities safe.
Many Wyoming law enforcement agencies form DUI task forces to prevent impaired driving, usually during major holidays or big events like Cheyenne Frontier Days. They usually announce these task forces, as Fremont County did on Feb. 5.
But doesn’t that defeat the purpose? Why would any law enforcement agency announce when and where they’re looking for impaired drivers?
It’s a simple answer, according to Laramie County Sheriff Brian Kozak. DUI task forces are about empowering people to make good decisions, not necessarily catching and penalizing them for bad ones.
“The name of the game is preventing crashes and saving lives,” he said. “We not only want to prevent people from driving impaired, but if those who are idiots decide to drive, we have an extra presence on the road to catch them before they hurt someone else.”
Not Checkpoints
One important thing to note is that Wyoming’s DUI task forces aren’t DUI checkpoints. Wyomingites will never encounter a DUI checkpoint, where officers set up a roadblock to stop every driver on specific routes.
“It’s state law that we cannot do sobriety or DUI checkpoints in Wyoming,” Kozak said.
The technical term for what the Fremont County DUI Task Force did on Super Bowl weekend was a saturation patrol. Kozak described it as multiple officers working together to patrol a specific area, looking for traffic violations, pulling people over, and checking to ensure they weren’t impaired by alcohol or drugs.
Saturation patrols require more direct coordination between law enforcement agencies, as they’re all working toward the same goal. And they want everyone to know when, where, and what they're doing.
Public Perception
When a law enforcement agency plans a saturation patrol, the goal isn’t to operate in secrecy. They want to be known and want to be seen.
“It’s about getting more officers to saturate a certain area so it's noticeable to the public,” Kozak said. “We want people to see an extra presence of law enforcement, so, hopefully, they’ll decide not to risk it and call an Uber.”
Kozak usually organizes a saturation patrol during Cheyenne Frontier Days. With so many people and so much excitement, there’s a higher chance that more people will make poor decisions.
“When we conduct patrols in Laramie County or the Cheyenne area, we'll bring in people from Albany County Sheriff's Office or Laramie PD, and there will be extra Wyoming Highway Patrol troopers in town,” he said. “We also help each other when we can. I sent deputies down to Laramie for the last couple of football games at the University of Wyoming.”
That’s why the DUI task force is announced in advance, along with all participating agencies. In Kozak’s experience, it works.
“I've noticed that parking lots at a lot of bars are full even after bars closed,” he said. “To me, that means people heard the news reports about the DUI task force, saw the extra presence, and kept their car at the bar overnight. They called an Uber or a sober friend because they didn't want to risk it.”
Saturation patrols prioritize impaired driving, but they typically conduct hundreds of traffic stops for other reasons.
Go To Go
In 2026, so far, the Fremont County DUI Task Force has arrested three impaired drivers, issued 122 speeding citations and made 600 traffic stops during two operations.
The vast majority of those drivers weren’t pulled over under suspicion of driving impaired, but for more typical reasons like speeding or license plate violations.
Furthermore, not everyone who’s pulled over during a saturation patrol is subjected to a field sobriety test. Kozak said taking those steps still requires cause.
“When an officer approaches and smells alcohol, or sees the driver’s eyes are dilated or constricted, or if they’re acting off, they'll go ahead and do the full investigation and field sobriety test.”
Holiday Spirits
Wyoming drivers could potentially expect to hear about a DUI task force in their neighborhood at any time, but they are more common during the holidays. According to Kozak, that’s when they make the most sense.
“I know we’re going to have a DUI task force on St. Patrick’s Day,” he said. “That is statistically, one of the deadliest days of the year, even more so than New Year's Eve.”
Kozak said a law enforcement agency might coordinate a saturation patrol at an unexpected time to have “the element of surprise” and encourage people to make better decisions. However, history shows that the holidays have a higher chance of crashes, injuries, and fatalities caused by impaired driving.
“We want to prevent impaired driving, so we want people to get the message that we’ll be out there in full force, looking for violations with a zero-tolerance approach,” he said. “Hopefully, that causes people to plan ahead, and if they don’t, we have more eyes to catch people before they get hurt.”
Better This Way
Kozak praised the professionalism and effectiveness of the Fremont County DUI Task Force. Their efforts over Super Bowl weekend show that they know what they’re doing and are keeping people safe.
“Fremont County has a very good DUI Task Force,” he said. “They've been very active in the last two years, and they have some good data to show that crashes have decreased quite a bit when they’re out there.”
During his career, Kozak participated in DUI checkpoints in Colorado and Arizona. After many years in Wyoming, he prefers saturation patrols and DUI task forces and isn’t bothered that the law prevents checkpoints.
“In my experience, saturation patrols are more effective than checkpoints in arresting impaired drivers,” he said. “Checkpoints are very labor-and resource-intensive and only focus on one street. In Wyoming, we can do more with saturation patrols.”
That’s why Wyomingites shouldn’t be surprised to hear about a DUI task force in their neighborhood. If they know there will be more cops and troopers on the streets, they’ll, hopefully, decide to enjoy their evenings more responsibly.
“We announce our DUI task forces because it causes people to think twice,” Kozak said. “That’s what we do to prevent impaired driving.”
Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.
