LEWISTON — Local police departments in the Twin Cities will team up this weekend to crack down on drunken drivers.

Police expect to set up checkpoints starting Friday in an effort to improve traffic safety, a spokesman said in a written statement.

Officers plan to identify motorists who are driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor, police said. The effort is part of an OUI enforcement grant the department received from the Maine Bureau of Highway Safety.

Two types of checkpoints are typically used by law enforcement, police Lt. Mark Cornelio said Thursday. One type uses a roadblock in which vehicles and their operators are checked as they funnel through; another type employs beefed-up patrols, called saturation patrols, on the alert for possible traffic violations, he said.

Police said the effort last year resulted in several arrests for OUI and driving with suspended licenses.