NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
DUI Campaign UPDATE
Day 12 of 18 – Through Tuesday, August 28, 2012
AVOID the 13 Sonoma County DUI Task Force
DUI Arrests Climb to 113
Three Checkpoints Planned This Weekend
[Sonoma County, CA] – The Avoid the 13 - Sonoma County DUI Task Force announced today that DUI arrests have reached 113 since Friday, August 17th. During the same period, six injury DUI collisions have occurred injuring ten people. No fatal DUI collisions have been reported so far during the National DUI Campaign known as the Summer Mobilization Period. These two weeks leading up to Labor Day are statistically high for alcohol involved fatal and injury collisions.
There will be three checkpoints in Sonoma County this weekend along with DUI patrols countywide. One checkpoint has already been announced by the Santa Rosa Police Department. The other two checkpoints will occur this weekend at undisclosed locations within Sonoma County.
The Anti-DUI Campaigns are working. DUI arrests for the Summer Mobilization Period have increased to their highest level in three years. At the same time, DUI collisions are at their lowest in the same reporting period. DUI arrests are up 12% from the 2010 Summer Mobilization Period from 155 to 175. While DUI crashes have dropped 37% from 2010 from 8 to 5.
AVOID the 13 Sonoma County - Summer Mobilization Periods 2009, 2010, 2011
DUI Arrests DUI Warrants Injury DUI TC's Injured Victims Fatal DUI TC's Fatal Victims
2009 168 11 8 10 0 0
2010 155 29 8 10 0 0
2011 175 27 5 6 0 0
In the last three years, Sonoma County law enforcement officers have recorded 498 DUI arrests. There have been ZERO fatal crashes in the all of the DUI campaign periods for the last three years. In the last three summer campaigns there have been 21 injury DUI collisions that have injured 26 people.
The national Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over crackdown is led by NHTSA with the California Avoid DUI Task Force Campaign combining high-visibility enforcement and heightened public awareness through publicity. For more information, visit the High-Visibility Enforcement Campaign Headquarters at www.StopImpairedDriving.org.
Statewide and local Avoid DUI Task Force Campaign Enforcement Schedules and Daily DUI Arrest/Fatal Stats, visit the www.californiaavoid.org. The Program is funded by the California Office of Traffic Safety who reminds everyone to please – Report Drunk Driving – Call 9-1-1!
Media Notes: To schedule an interview regarding Anti Drunk-Driving efforts, or request a ride-along with law enforcement during the holiday period, please contact Sergeant Ken Savano via email at [email protected].
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AVOID the 13 Sonoma County DUI Task Force - The Petaluma Police Department serves as the lead agency for the regional DUI enforcement efforts in Sonoma County to reduce alcohol-involved fatalities and injuries and raise general public awareness regarding the problems associated with drinking and driving. Participating agencies include Police Departments from the cities of Cloverdale, Cotati, Healdsburg, Petaluma, Rohnert Park, Santa Rosa, Sebastopol, Sonoma, Windsor, the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department, Sonoma County Probation Department, Sonoma State University Police Department, Santa Rosa Junior College Police Department, ABC, MADD, the California Highway Patrol, and State Parks. Grant funded activities include DUI checkpoints, DUI saturation patrols, DUI Task Force Operations and Warrant/Court Sting operations for repeat DUI offenders during the Memorial Day, Fourth of July, August-Labor Day Mobilization, Winter Holiday Mobilization, and other designated Special Events and holidays with identified DUI problems. AVOID the 13 is a collaborative enforcement and education effort between the 13 law enforcement agencies in Sonoma County. For further information go to www.californiaavoid.org.
CONTACT: Sergeant Ken Savano
Petaluma Police Department – Traffic Team
707.778.4596 office 707.481.3567 cell
Email: [email protected]
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