During an event at the Cranston Police Training Complex last week, the Rhode Rhode Island Police Chiefs’ Association unveiled nine new patrol vehicles specially equipped to aid in impaired driving patrols.

The vehicles, funded through National Highway Traffic Safety Administration by way of the Rhode Island Department of Transportation’s Office on Highway Safety, are being awarded to nine local departments, including Cranston, Warwick, West Warwick, Central Falls, North Kingstown, Portsmouth, Westerly, Woonsocket and Burrillville.

“The departments were selected based on their past positive performance of impaired-driving efforts in their cities and towns,” a statement from the association reads.

The vehicles are outfitted with a “variety of features that will allow for safer and more efficient traffic stops,” according to the association, “including specialized LED lighting to increase visibility and darkened ‘ghost lettering’ decals that indicate the vehicle is a DUI enforcement vehicle (the letters become more visible when illuminated by the lights of the cruiser).”

The event came days before the St. Patrick’s Day holiday. Among those present were Cranston Mayor Ken Hopkins, Cranston Police Chief Col. Michael Winquist, Rhode Island State Police Superintendent Col. James Manni, Attorney General Peter Neronha, Department of Transportation Director Peter Alviti Jr. and Sidney Wordell, the association’s executive director.

“I’m struck at how many times a young person is seriously injured or killed in one of these crashes,” Neronha said, according to the association’s statement. “It’s something that remains with the victim’s family for years to come. That’s what makes this program so important. By increasing the efforts to stop impaired drivers before they get into one of these tragic crashes, it will go a long way to reducing the devastation that is happening on our roadways.”