By B. Raack, KWMU
St. Louis, Mo. – Millions of people are expected to travel this holiday weekend - most of them by car.
Missouri's Highway Patrol will be out in force to watch for speeders, inattentive drivers and those impaired by alcohol. But Captain Christian Ricks says the "orange" terror alert level means more responsibilities for state troopers.
"While we don't discuss our homeland security operations and plans, we are spread pretty thin right now," Ricks said. "We have officers who are assigned to terrorist activities and they have certain assignments that they're carrying out through this time so that makes us even thinner out there."
Ricks says the Missouri Highway Patrol is about 100 officers short of its normal operating force due to recent departures.