Between Friday, Aug. 31 and Monday, Sep. 3 the Mississippi Highway Patrol conducted a special Labor Day enforcement period over the Labor Day weekend.

According to a release from the Department, during that four day span the Mississippi Highway Patrol issued 9,440 citations and arrested 166 people for DUI across the state. The number of issued citations nearly tripled between last year’s holiday and this year’s, with only 3,843 issued during that time frame in 2017.

“We attribute this to heavy traffic and the utilization of all available Troopers including the addition of new Troopers from Cadet Class 62,” the release states.

During the Department’s special enforcement period, 165 vehicle crashes were investigated, the release states. All of these accidents took place on state and federal highways and interstates. In these incidents 54 individuals were injured and four were killed.

According to the release, in Troop K, which is comprised of the six costal counties including Pearl River County, Troopers issued a total of 1,248 citations, arrested 18 for DUI and made six drug arrests and two felony arrests.

On Friday, Aug. 31, a total of 344 citations and two drug arrests occurred within Troop K. On Sep. 1, 217 citations, two drug arrests and one felony arrest occurred. On Sep. 2, there were 277 citations. On Sep. 3 Troop K officers issued 416 citations, made two drug arrests and one felony arrest, the release states.

MHP Public Information Officer Chase Elkins said exact numbers for Pearl River County were unavailable.

The three crashes that involved fatalities occurred on Friday, Aug. 31. The first incident occurred in Union county and resulted in the death of Mervyn H. Epsman, of Warrior, Ala. and Jerome D. Young, of Nettleton, Miss. The second occurred in Clarke County and resulted in the death of Dan H. Williams of Shubuta, Miss. The third occurred in Newton County and resulted in the death of Lucas L. Arthur of Union, Miss., according to the release.