Local law enforcement authorities will implement sobriety checkpoints this weekend in an attempt to curtail drunken driving.

The effort will include officers with the Cape Girardeau Police Department, Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department and the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

"Many families will be brought together for the Easter celebration," said Chief Rick Hetzel of the Cape Girardeau Police Department.

"This region's law enforcement agencies intend to place impaired drivers in fear of being arrested each time they get behind the wheel of an automobile," stated Hetzel.

The location of the checkpoints will be distributed over a wide geographic area and will not be announced.

"The key to sobriety checkpoints is not telling the motorists where we will be," said police Sgt. J.R. Davis.

According to Davis, motorists can expect checkpoint traffic delays of approximately one minute.