OWATONNA — Law enforcement officials are turning to inmates in the Steele County Detention Center to create a mural so jarring it will make people think twice about impaired or distracted driving.

Owatonna Police Chief Keith Hiller said the art needs to be dramatic and realistic in order for teen drivers, especially, to take notice. Hiller says he wants the inmates to paint graphic depictions of extricated bodies, heads smashing through windshields and shattered glass covered in blood.

The detention center has a $10,000 grant to complete a three-piece mural project. The Southwestern Minnesota Toward Zero Deaths campaign hopes the inmates will have at least one mural done in time to display it at the Owatonna High School prom May 12.