Full Notification

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

August 19, 2014

Sergeant Jim Stephenson, Petaluma Police Department, (707) 778-4596

SUMMER/LABOR DAY AVOID DUI CAMPAIGN –

TUESDAY UPDATE DUI Arrests Down & DUI Fatalities Down

The end of summer DUI Mobilization has resulted a number of DUI arrests from local routine traffic enforcement and special Avoid the 13 DUI deployments for the first weekend in Sonoma County.

From 12:01 AM Friday August 15, 2014 through Midnight Sunday August 17, 2014 officers countywide have arrested 34 individuals for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. In 2013 38 DUI arrests occurred during the same three (3) day time frame.

There was one fatal DUI collision in 2013 during this same time period. There were no DUI deaths over the weekend, but there were three reported DUI collisions.

AVOID DUI Task Force officers conducted a DUI warrant sweep county wide on Sunday August 17, 2014. Ten officers attempted to serve sixty DUI related warrants. Twelve subjects were arrested and either cited to appear or booked into county jail for their outstanding warrants.

Over the course of the next several days of the campaign extra DUI Saturation Patrols will be deployed throughout Sonoma County. All regularly scheduled traffic and patrol officers will focus efforts at stopping and arresting DUI drivers during their normal shifts.

Police, Sheriff and the CHP encourage all motorists to help make your community safer: Report Drunk Drivers – Call 911. Funding for this program is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

DUI arrest data collection will continue through Labor Day midnight Monday, September 1, 2014. Avoid programs, named for the number of police agencies in each county, are deploying Multiple/DUI Driver’s License Checkpoints, Multi Agency DUI Task Force operations and local Roving DUI patrols region wide during 18 day Summer/Labor Day Campaign.

MEDIA NOTE: The checkpoint locations and saturation patrols will be made available for media opportunities or ride-alongs each night.