Colorado’s “The Heat is On” campaign to arrest drunk drivers was a rousing success this New Year’s holiday.

Law enforcement officials made 449 DUI arrests for the period between 6 p.m. on Dec. 29 through 3 a.m. on Jan. 2, according to the state.

In 2005, 407 were arrested. In 2004, the number of arrests tallied 348. I wonder, are more people driving under the influence, or are police just making more arrests? If the educational and publicity programs were really effective, wouldn’t the number of arrests decline? Another statistic that would be helpful would be an accounting of the blood alcohol levels of those arrested. Are the police getting the truly drunk drivers or those just over the impairment line of 0.8?