Full Notification

Long Beach Police Department’s DUI Enforcement Team will be deployed, along with officers from other local law enforcement agencies, on Sunday, April 13, 2014, to stop and arrest alcohol and drug-impaired drivers in the Department’s ongoing traffic safety campaign. DUI saturation patrols will deploy between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m. in areas with high frequencies of DUI collisions and/or arrests.

After falling dramatically for five straight years, figures for 2012 show an increase to 802 deaths in California because someone failed to designate a sober driver. Over the course of the past three years, DUI collisions in Long Beach have claimed nine lives and resulted in 315 injury crashes, harming 420 of our friends and neighbors.

To prevent these tragedies from occurring, the following steps to have a safe and happy race day are recommended:

-Before the festivities begin, plan a way to safely get home at the end of the night
-Before drinking, designate a sober driver and leave your car keys at home
-If you’re impaired, use a taxi, call a sober friend or family member, or use public transportation
-If you know someone who is about to drive or ride while impaired, take their keys and help them make other arrangements to travel safely
-If you see a drunk driver on the road, Report Them! Call 9-1-1! You could save a life.

Driving under the influence can impact the economy in addition to the pain and suffering of those immediately affected. Conservatively, a fatality has a $1.4 million impact, an injury $70,000, and a crash that only damages property averages nearly $9,000. The estimated cost for a first time misdemeanor driving under the influence conviction is over $15,000.

This program is funded by a California Office of Traffic Safety grant, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.