St. Patrick's Day celebrations start early

With St. Patrick's Day celebrations kicking off this weekend, people are hitting the bars early and so are police. On Friday in Wauwatosa the patios opened up for the season.

Nick Anthony says, \"St. Patty's day should be some fun, it's my brother's birthday this weekend so we're going to celebrate.\"

With that in mind, various departments are doing a little preparing for the holiday with a role call.

Lieutenant Robert Hagen says, \"The arrests are happening earlier and earlier in the day, which is concerning because it doesn't mean they're slowing down later in the day.\"

Lieutenant Hagen says last year they had 51 OWI arrests, 700 citations, and 30 other arrests--mostly for drugs. This year, patrols start tonight, and will be going through St. Patrick's Day on Tuesday.

Lt. Hagen says, \"Make sure you have a sober driver because otherwise the ride in the police car is going to be to jail, not home.\"

Extra patrols will be out starting tonight and through Tuesday.  

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