Labor Day traditionally marks the last day of summer and the last major U.S. holiday until Thanksgiving; a time when family and friends gather for barbeques, picnics and parties, and Vicksburg police and Warren County sheriff’s deputies will be out in force to ensure it stays safe.

“We will be out monitoring traffic to make sure people have a safe and happy Labor Day,” Sheriff Martin Pace said.

“We will be on the lookout for impaired drivers over the weekend. We want to remind people that if they are going to include alcohol in their plans, they need to have a designated driver as part of those plans.”

Like the sheriff’s office, Vicksburg police will also be watching for impaired or intoxicated drivers over the three-day holiday.

“We will be saturating the city with patrol officers,” Police Chief Walter Armstrong said. “We’ll have officers at the football games and they will stay out a longer after the games to patrol. And we will have extra officers working overtime during the holiday weekend.”

He said the national anti-drunk driving program “Drive Sober or get Pulled Over” has been in effect since Aug. 18 and will run through Sept. 5, and the department plans to do seat belt checks over the weekend.

“Our main focus will be impaired drivers, but we will also be watching for other violations; we will have a lot of officers on the road,” he said.