Law enforcement to beef up patrols over St. Paddy's Day weekend

GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) - St. Patrick's Day is just around the corner. While local bars and restaurants are hoping the holiday brings a lot of green to their cash registers, area law enforcement are prepping for a busy weekend.

St. Brendan's Inn in downtown Green Bay serves a traditional Irish menu all year round, but come mid-March....

"We have 600 pounds of corned beef in the back so hopefully that's enough," said Assistant General Manager Dan Joppe.

Joppe said St. Patrick's Day is by far their busiest day of the year.

"Guinness, I will have 35 half barrels on hand," he said. "And if we do happen to run out, I have people backing me up so I just need to make a call."

Since this year's holiday falls on a Sunday, Joppe's anticipating a weekend-long celebration, complete with live music, food and plenty of drinks.

If you plan on partaking in any of the festivities, officials say plan ahead. All six OWI Task Forces in northeast Wisconsin will be out looking for drunk drivers

According to Captain Randy Schultz, with the Brown County Sheriff's Department, expect to encounter extra officers out on the roads all weekend.

"Starting Thursday already and through Sunday we'll also have extra individuals patrolling, not only for OWI, but seat belts, speed, those kind of things," Capt. Schultz explained. "So that we can keep the presence up because historically it's a much busier and potentially dangerous weekend for motorists."

They are dangers Capt. Schultz calls completely preventable.

"Be patient, be considerate, plan in advance, have a good time and everybody will be fine," he added.

Back at St. Brendan's, security staff will be on making sure no one is underage or over-served.

"We haven't had problems in the past," said Joppe. "People have been very responsible so we hope that trend continues."