The Santa Clara County Summer/Labor Day National Anti-DUI crackdown began Friday in hopes of making streets safer in the 18 days before the Labor Day holiday.
Extra attention is coming to Campbell, soon, law enforcement promises.
“Research has shown that high-visibility enforcement like the 'Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over' campaign reduces alcohol-impaired driving fatalities by as much as 20 percent," said Sheriff Laurie Smith. "By joining this statewide wide effort, we will make Santa Clara County’s roadways safer for everyone throughout the Labor Day period.”
In the first two days, it has resulted in a significant number of DUI arrests from both routine traffic enforcement and special Avoid the 13 DUI deployments overnight in Santa Clara County, Jose Cordova, a spokesman for the Sheriff's Office said in a press release.
From 12:01 AM Friday through midnight Saturday, officers representing Santa Clara County law enforcement agencies have arrested at least 38 individuals for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Some jurisdictions had not reported at the time the figures were released, but are expected to do so later.
Additionally, the following DUI checkpoints will be set up:
Friday, August 24th: City of Morgan Hill.
Saturday September 1: Cities of San Jose and Milpitas
Extra DUI "saturation patrols" will be deployed in the following places: Campbell, Milpitas, Los Altos, Mountain View, Los Gatos, Palo Alto, San Jose, Santa Clara, Gilroy, Sunnyvale, Morgan Hill, Cupertino, Saratoga, Los Altos Hills, and the unincorporated areas of Santa Clara County.
Besides the extra patrols, all regularly scheduled traffic and patrol officers will focus efforts at stopping and arresting DUI drivers during their normal shifts. Multiple/DUI Driver’s License Checkpoints, Multi-agency DUI Task Force operations and local Roving DUI patrols are set region-wide during the 18-day Summer/Labor Day Campaign.
Funding for the 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 3, 2012.
Police, Sheriff and the CHP encourage all motorists report drunk drivers by calling 911.
Below is the list of DUI arrests to reported to date. "NR" means not reported at the time of daily collection deadline.
Agency 8/17 8/18 Campbell PD NR NR CHP-Gilroy 4 2 CHP-San Jose 6 7 Gilroy Police Department 1 0 Los Altos Police Dept 0 0 Los Gatos Police Dept. 2 NR Milpitas Police Dept. NR NR Morgan Hill Police Dept. 0 2 Mountain View Police NR NR Palo Alto PD 2 NR San Jose PD 2 NR Santa Clara PD 0 1 Santa Clara Sheriff's Office 2 0 Sunnyvale 0 0 SJ State Univ. Police Dept. NR NR Cumulative 38 Daily Update 26 12