INCIDENT: DUI Enforcement Operations
DATE/TIME: Friday January 11th, 2019
Patrols 7pm-3am
LOCATION: Citywide
UNIT: Traffic Services
Pomona, CA - Officers from the Pomona Police Department will be deploying this weekend to stop and arrest suspected alcohol and drug-impaired drivers in the Department’s ongoing traffic safety campaign. DUI Saturation Patrols will deploy on Friday, January 11th, 2019 between the hours of 7:00 p.m. and 3:00 a.m. in areas with high frequencies of DUI collisions and/or arrests.
High Visibility Enforcement using both DUI checkpoints and DUI Saturation Patrols has proven to lower the number of persons killed and injured in alcohol or drug impaired crashes. Research shows that crashes involving an impaired driver can be reduced by up to 20 percent when well-publicized proactive DUI operations are conducted routinely.
In California, alcohol involved collisions led to 1,155 deaths and nearly 24,000 injuries in 2014 because someone failed to designate a sober driver. Over the course of the past three years officers have investigated 115 DUI collisions which have claimed 10 lives and resulted in another 150 injuries.
Officers will be looking for signs of alcohol and/or drug impairment. When possible, specially trained officers will be available to evaluate those suspected of drug-impaired driving, which now accounts for a growing number of impaired driving crashes.
In recent years, California has seen a disturbing increase in drug-impaired driving crashes. Pomona PD supports the new effort from the Office of Traffic Safety that aims to educate all drivers that “DUI Doesn’t Just Mean Booze.” If you take prescription drugs, particularly those with a driving or operating machinery warning on the label, you might be impaired enough to get a DUI. Everyone should be mindful that if you’re taking medication – whether prescription or over-the-counter – drinking even small amounts of alcohol can greatly intensify the impairment affects. Marijuana can also be impairing, especially in combination with alcohol or other drugs, and can result in a DUI.
Studies of California drivers have shown that 30 percent of drivers in fatal crashes had one or more drugs in their systems. A study of active drivers showed more tested positive for drugs that may impair driving (14 percent) than did for alcohol (7.3 percent). Of the drugs, marijuana was most prevalent, at 7.4 percent, slightly more than alcohol.
Pomona PD offers these reminders to ensure you have a safe night of fun that doesn’t involve a DUI:
- Decide before you go out whether you plan to drink or drive. You can’t do both.
- If you plan to drink, designate a sober driver.
- Take a taxi, ride-share or public transportation. You can also look up sober ride programs using the National Directory of Designated Driver Services (NDDDS): http://bit.ly/DDServices.
- See a friend or another patron impaired trying to get behind the wheel? Take the keys away and help them make other arrangements to get home safely.
- Report drunk drivers – call 911.
Volunteering as a designated sober driver? Our designated driver very important person (“DDVIP”) program partners with bars and restaurants to offer non-alcohol specialty drinks for DDs, among other deals:
http://bit.ly/OTSDDrinks.
The cost of a ride home is cheap! Drivers caught driving impaired can expect the impact of a DUI arrest to be up to $10,000 for first-time offenders, including fines, fees, DUI classes, license suspensions and other expenses not to mention possible jail time.
Funding for this checkpoint is provided to Pomona Police Department by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, reminding everyone to ‘Report Drunk Driver – Call 9-1-1’.
Prepared by: Traffic Services
Pomona Police Department
909-620-2081
