Before You Take Your Three-Day Weekend, Dallas Police Dept. Wants to Remind You ...

The Unfair Park in-box has been filling up with reminders from DPD in advance of the July 4 weekend, chief among them that by-now familiar heads-up concerning the department's long-standing No-Refusal DWI Initiative. Which is to say: Beginning tonight at 6, if you're pulled over from driving while intoxicated and you say unh-unh-no-thanks to the officer who wants to snag a breath or blood sample, "the arresting officer will secure a search warrant and direct health care professionals to obtain a blood sample and have it forwarded to the District Attorney's office for filing," according to the release that just went out. You need a reminder how this works, I refer you to our cover story on this very subject. I like to think of it as the Butterfly Needle Effect.

Curiously, it's not a 24/7 thing: According to DPD, the No-Refusal DWI Initiative is only in effect "Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night (July 2-4, 2010) from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., each night." You'd think it would at least run through 6:13 in the morning.

And, of course, there's this: DPD and Dallas Fire-Rescue will be patrolling neighborhoods throughout the weekend on the lookout for "violators of illegal fireworks." If you're just holding a Golden Lotus Shell in plain sight, DPD will swap 'em out for a citation -- and, so's you know, the fine for using and/or just possessing illegal fireworks runs up to $2,000. Also, please don't shoot your guns in the air like you just don't care. Because DPD does. In my Northwest Dallas neighborhood, though, we call this "Tuesday."