The Suffolk Police Department is participating with the Commonwealth’s 17th annual Checkpoint Strike Force DUI Enforcement and Outreach Campaign to Combat Drunk Driving.

The enforcement is under way from Aug. 17 through Labor Day weekend, and resume periodically through target points like Halloween, Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve.

The department always participates in annual state and federal DUI campaigns, because they are grant awardees through the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration.

“In October 2015, the Suffolk Police Department applied for a National Highway Transportation Safety Administration Grant through the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles to establish a DUI Task Force. The grant was awarded in late January 2016 and was executed in April 2016,” spokeswoman Diana Klink said in an email.

Suffolk was one of three grants awarded in the state, with the other two going to Fairfax County and Roanoke.

Partnering with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” enforcement mobilization, approximately 89 law enforcement agencies will operate 94 checkpoints and 612 saturation patrols from Aug. 17 through Sept. 3, according to a release from Gov. Ralph Northam’s office.

The grant has continually been funding the department, and they will enter their fourth year of funding starting Oct. 1, according to Klink.

“The department also applies for and received annual funding for DUI enforcement utilizing other officers of the department. Besides roving patrols, this grant calls for DUI checkpoints also. This is called an Alcohol Selective Enforcement Grant,” Klink said.