Beginning the day after Labor Day, a van driven by a group known as Volunteers of America will take drunks off the streets of Salt Lake City and its suburbs.
Salt Lake County Commissioner Mike Stewart said the van will relieve police officers of the responsibility to look for chronic alcohol abusers, who often frequent the streets of downtown. It also will provide more humane treatment for the abusers, who will be taken either to detoxification centers or home, instead of to jail.Stewart said the van will comb the streets as many as 20 hours each day and will respond to police calls about drunks. He said the volunteer organization will provide the service under its existing contract with the county jail. The county will pay $28,000 per year to the group to operate the van.