Police in Newport, Middletown and Portsmouth, working with the Rhode Island State Police, made 4,059 traffic stops on Aquidneck Island between July 4 and Labor Day as part of a coordinated enforcement effort called Operation Safe Summer.
Officers made 48 arrests for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and charged 81 drivers with suspended license offenses over the same period, according to a release from the Middletown Police Department.
The four departments described the operation as a highly visible approach to traffic safety, run in coordination with the state Department of Transportation’s Office of Highway Safety.
