About $2.25 million in state and federal funds will finance several new initiatives aimed at combating drunk driving in New Mexico, Gov. Bill Richardson has announced.

New Mexico Business Weekly reported Dec. 12 that the new efforts include a $300,000 expense to support four full-time DWI law enforcement officers in Santa Fe County, a $750,000 allocation to the New Mexico State Police for increased DWI checkpoints and saturation patrols in several counties, and $500,000 for the Albuquerque Police Department to establish a "Drunkbusters" unit to respond to citizen calls.

In November, Richardson appointed a DWI Strike Force to look at policy initiatives to fight drunk driving. The group's final report is expected to be in the governor's hands by Dec. 22 and could be used to shape state legislative proposals for 2007.

Also included in the initiatives identified by Richardson is $700,000 in drunk-driving prevention efforts. These include signage publicizing the state's Drunkbusters telephone number and a program encouraging workplaces to prioritize alcohol-related issues.