With perhaps the biggest weekend of the year ahead of them, law
enforcement agencies in Santa Clara County report they have
arrested 600 people for impaired driving since Dec. 12.
Morgan Hill
With perhaps the biggest weekend of the year ahead of them, law enforcement agencies in Santa Clara County report they have arrested 600 people for impaired driving since Dec. 12.
And according to Sgt. Jerry Neumayer, Morgan Hill police have arrested 56 people for driving under the influence since the same date, which marked the beginning of the annual countywide holiday crackdown on drunk driving known as “Avoid the 13.” Gilroy Police have arrested 15 DUI suspects during the same time.
Arrests for DUI are down from the same time period last year, when 625 people were arrested throughout the county for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, according to Sgt. Don Morrissey of the sheriff’s office.
The enhanced holiday enforcement campaign will run until Jan. 2, 2009.
The DUI arrests have been made with the use of increased sobriety checkpoints, task force operations, and “saturation patrols” which place more officers than usual on the roads. These enhanced operations are funded by a $600,000-plus state grant.
Neumayer said MHPD’s impaired driving crackdown efforts include putting two extra officers on local roads every Friday and Saturday night during the holidays.
Two people have died due to accidents involving impaired drivers since the beginning of Avoid the 13, according to Morrissey.
Morgan Hill police chief Bruce Cumming has previously noted that nearly 1,500 people died on impaired driving-related accidents in the state of California in 2007, stressing the importance of keeping the roads safe of drunk drivers.
“Impaired driving creates serious consequences. If (drunk drivers) don’t end up with death, they will end up with a serious injury or a lot of legal bills. Take precautions and plan ahead. Designate a sober driver, call a taxi, or stay at home and drink,” Cumming said.
Last year, Avoid the 13 resulted in 859 DUI arrests in Santa Clara County, Morrissey said. One person was killed in a DUI-related crash.
In Morgan Hill, 92 people were arrested for DUI during last year’s campaign, and 67 were arrested the year before that, Neumayer said.
