DUI & Driver’s License Checkpoint Followed by DUI Saturation Patrol

What:       
LAPD’s Emergency Operations Division will staff a sobriety and driver’s license checkpoint followed by a DUI saturation patrol the following evening.

When:
DUI and Driver’s License Checkpoint
Friday, February 17, 2012
8 p.m. – 2 a.m.

DUI Saturation Patrol
Saturday, February 18, 2012
6 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Where:   
The checkpoint will be at Van Nuys Boulevard between Parthenia Street and Roscoe Boulevard in Panorama City

The DUI Saturation Patrol will be throughout LAPD’s Mission Area.

Who:
LAPD Emergency Operations Division Officers

Why:         
Because Sobriety checkpoints are a proven enforcement tool effective in reducing the number of persons killed and injured in alcohol-involved crashes. Research shows that crashes involving alcohol drop by an average of 20 percent when well-publicized checkpoints are conducted often enough.

Officers will be approaching drivers passing through the checkpoint for signs of alcohol and/or drug impairment.  Officers will also check for proper licensing and will strive to delay motorists only momentarily. Drivers caught driving impaired can expect jail, license suspension, and insurance increases, as well as fines, fees, DUI classes and other expenses that can exceed $10,000.

“Over the course of the past two years, DUI collisions have claimed approximately 30 lives and resulted in over 2,000 injury traffic collisions harming our friends and neighbors,” said Sergeant Karmody of LAPD’s Traffic Coordination Section.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), checkpoints have provided the most effective documented results of any of the DUI enforcement strategies while also yielding considerable cost savings of $6 for every $1 spent.  Checkpoints are placed in locations that have the greatest opportunity for achieving drunk and drugged driving deterrence and provide the greatest safety for officers and the public.

“Deaths from drunk and drug-impaired driving are going down in California,” said Christopher J. Murphy, Director of the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS).  “But that still means that hundreds of our friends, family and co-workers are killed each year, along with tens of thousands who are seriously injured. We must all continue to work together to bring an end to these tragedies.  If you see a drunk driver, call 9-1-1.”

LAPD receives funding for the checkpoint and DUI saturation patrols through a grant from the  OTS obtained through the NHTSA, targeting those who still don’t heed the message to designate a sober driver.

MEDIA NOTES:
To schedule an interview regarding the LAPD sobriety checkpoints and DUI saturation patrols, please contact Officer Don Inman at (213) 486-0703.  To schedule an interview regarding impaired driving efforts and programs in California please contact Chris Cochran of the OTS at 916-509-3063 or via email at chris.cochran@ots.ca.gov.