BY BRUCE PRESTON

Salem police conducted two sobriety checkpoints last weekend, netting 24 arrests, including nine for driving while intoxicated and two for minors in possession of alcohol.

Officers worked from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday,  Sept. 1 and 2, stopping a total of 470 vehicles.  

On Saturday evening, six Salem police officers worked with six officers from New Hampshire State Police at a checkpoint set up at the Babies “R” Us store on South Broadway.  

Random vehicles traveling northbound were directed into the parking lot for the check. This was coordinated with Massachusetts State Police, who were working with Methuen, Mass., police just over the border at a checkpoint for southbound traffic.

Once drivers entered the checkpoint, officers asked some general questions and made an assessment of the drivers’ condition. If necessary, the drivers were asked to take a field sobriety test. A total of 50 drivers were asked to do this. The majority of drivers were just given a survey to provide feedback about the checkpoint and were on their way in less than two minutes.

One Salem resident who encountered the checkpoint was Selectman Mike Lyons. Lyons spoke briefly with a state trooper and was on his way quickly.

“The officers were very professional,” Lyons said of the checkpoint. “I’m glad that we can do this once per year and provide the extra level of protection to our community.”

The cost of the checkpoints was funded by a federal grant administered by the New Hampshire Highway Safety Agency.