Martinsville police stepping up enforcement for the holiday weekend

A dozen extra officers will be on patrol

MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Roads may be backed up this weekend with so many people traveling.

At the Martinsville Police Department, there will be a backup of a different kind.

"We've got 12 extra officers this weekend that are going to be working the streets," Martinsville Police Department Capt. Chad Rhoads said.

Rhoads said this won't be an easy weekend.

"It's going to be a lot of work, but our goal is safety. Zero crashes, zero fatalities. That's what they're here working for," Rhoads said. "It seems like this time every summer, there's a fatal accident somewhere in the area. We're hoping to prevent that this year."

A big part of that is making sure people are wearing seat belts.

"In our most recent survey, we were at 77 percent, which is about 20 points lower than, ideally, we'd like to have it," Rhoads said.

May is Click It or Ticket month, so officers are cracking down on seat belt violations.

A seat belt checkpoint was set up Thursday.

Rhoads said four people were ticketed.