Full Notification

Santa Clarita, CA – The Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station’s Traffic Unit will be conducting a Driving Under the Influence checkpoint tonight, Thursday, April 14, 2011 at an undisclosed location within the city limits between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m.

DUI checkpoints are a proven enforcement tool effective in reducing the number of persons killed and injured in alcohol involved crashes, as well as being an valuable means for heightening awareness of the dangers of impaired driving.

Officers will be checking drivers through the checkpoint for signs of alcohol and or drug impairments. Officers will strive to impact motorists only momentarily. If officers suspect that a driver has been drinking or is impaired, they will conduct a field sobriety test. If you fail, expect jail, vehicle storage fees, license suspension, insurance rate increases, along with fines, fees, DUI classes, other expenses that can exceed $10,000.

“Over the course of the past three years, DUI collisions have claimed 3 lives and resulted in 150 injury crashes harming 208 of our friends and neighbors,” said Sgt Rich Cohen of the Santa Clarita Sheriff's Station.

Statewide, overall traffic deaths declined by 23 percent, from 3,995 in 2007 to 3,081 in 2009. Total traffic fatalities are at their lowest levels in six decades, when the federal government began compiling figures. According to federal statistics, DUI deaths declined by 16 percent, from 1,132 in 2007 to 950 in 2009. Alcohol impaired deaths still make up the largest category of overall vehicle fatalities in 2009, with 31 percent of all deaths caused by a drunk or impaired driver.

“Everyone in California should be heartened with these figures,” said Christopher J. Murphy, Director of the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS). “But as encouraging as this is, we can’t let up on the efforts to encourage and support traffic safety. You can help make your community safe; if you see a Drunk Driver – Call 9-1-1.”

Funding for this and other DUI checkpoints are provided to the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station and the City of Santa Clarita by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, targeting those who still don’t heed the message to designate a sober driver.

MEDIA NOTES: To schedule an interview regarding the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station’s Traffic Safety Operations, please contact Sergeant Rich Cohen at (661) 799-5109 or via email at [email protected]. To schedule an interview regarding impaired driving efforts and programs in California please contact Chris Cochran, California Office of Traffic Safety at (916) 905-3063 or via email at [email protected].
# # #

If You See Something, Say Something! Anyone with information about a local crime is encouraged to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Santa Clarita Valley Station at (661) 255-1121.

If you prefer to provide information ANONYMOUSLY, you can call “Crime Stoppers” by dialing 800-222-TIPS (8477), texting the letters TIPLA plus your tip to CRIMES (274637), or using the web site http://lacrimestoppers.org.

Always verify the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff's Station's information and news releases by visiting our Web site at SCVSheriff, the city of Santa Clarita's Web site at Santa-Clarita, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Web site at http://www.lasd.org/. Six other local news outlets are www.hometownstation.com/, http://www.the-signal.com/, www.scvtv.com/, www.scvtalk.com/, www.westranchbeacon.com, and www.santaclaritaguide.com/.

Receive emails and text messages direct from the LASD:
Get detailed, up-to-date emails and text messages specific to your community from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department by registering for "Nixle" alerts at: https://local.nixle.com/register/. Register for LASD – Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff's Station. Or, for alerts and advisory text messages only, text SCVsheriff to 888777. (Standard text messaging rates may apply)