Town police have scheduled a sobriety checkpoint for the evening of Friday, December 18, and early morning hours of Saturday, December 19.

Police will set up the checkpoint on a road where they will briefly stop and interview each driver passing through to learn whether those motorists are driving under the influence. Police did not disclose the location of the planned checkpoint.

The term commonly used to describe intoxicated driving is “driving under the influence,” but more specifically, the law is known as “driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs.” Most of the arrests that police make for impaired driving involve alcohol use, with the remainder involving drugs, or both alcohol and drugs.

All town patrol officers have received training in “drugged driving” detection. Drugged driving involves motorists whose driving skills are impaired by the use of drugs including marijuana, heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine, according to police.

Town police have received a grant from the Department of Transportation’s Highway Safety Office to enforce the state laws against drunk driving. That grant covers 75 percent of the police overtime costs stemming from specialized drunk driving enforcement projects, such as the checkpoint.

Besides the December 18-19 sobriety checkpoint, police are conducting special roving patrols this month, including New Year’s Eve, to enforce the drunk driving laws.