Charlottetown police are reporting success with a new strategy against drunk driving.

Instead of setting up road checks on major streets leading in and out of the city, earlier this month police began stopping vehicles in downtown areas. They are also increasing patrols during late night periods when bars are closing.

"Since March 1st I think we've had 17 charges for impaired driving and three seven-day suspensions," said deputy chief Gary McGuigan, adding that this marks an increase in both areas.

"When we unrolled our strategy for impaired driving that was one of the things that our intelligence told us, that we could pull our road checks into the downtown area and be successful in catching impaired drivers."

McGuigan said police have also noticed more vehicles are being left in the downtown area as a result of the increased police presence. He is confident the number of charges will eventually fall off as more people get the message against drinking and driving.