PETALUMA POLICE DEPARTMENT RECEIVES $350,000 GRANT
FOR COUNTY-WIDE DUI ENFORCEMENT CAMPAIGN
Drunk and drugged driving remains the number one killer on our roadways, with 774 deaths and over 24,000 injuries. The “Avoid the 13” DUI Task Force will be combating this deadly problem through DUI enforcement efforts in Sonoma County. Petaluma Police Department will be administering a recent $350,000 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety for the entire county.
The “Avoid the 13” DUI Task Force is named to send the message that if you don’t drink or use drugs and drive, you will avoid getting arrested by any of the 13 participating law enforcement agencies in the county.
The grant activities will specifically target those who get behind the wheel after drinking too much or using drugs that impair driving. Officers from law enforcement agencies across the county will jointly staff DUI/Driver License Checkpoints, multi-agency DUI Task Force deployments, and local DUI saturation patrols. Additionally, funding will target the ‘worst of the worst’ repeat DUI offenders with Warrant/Probation Sweeps and Court Sting Enforcement Operations focusing on DUI offenders with suspend licenses who drive from court hearings after being ordered not to by a judge.
A large part of grant funding will go to DUI/Drivers License Checkpoints – highly visible, highly publicized events not only meant to make arrests, but to deter impaired driving in the first place. Crashes involving alcohol have been shown drop by up to 20 percent when well-publicized checkpoints are conducted often enough. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, checkpoints have provided the most effective documented results of any of the DUI enforcement strategies, while yielding considerable cost savings of $6 for every $1 spent, and are supported by nearly 90 percent of California drivers.
Motorists can expect to see special DUI campaigns during the winter and summer holiday periods as well as on Halloween, Super Bowl Sunday, St. Patrick’s Day, Cinco de Mayo and during local special events with identified DUI Problems. Funding for the grant comes from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Agencies participating in the ‘Avoid the 13’ taskforce 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 California State Parks.
