See Update No. 2 at the end of this post with results from the joint Costa Mesa Police Department and California Highway Patrol checkpoint Friday night. Update No. 1 on the next page had Anaheim Police announcing its DUI checkpoint that night.
ORIGINAL POST, MAY 24, 8 A.M.: Another long holiday weekend, another opportunity for law enforcement to pull boozy drivers off the roads.
Orange County police agencies have several anti-DUI operations planned beginning tonight with checkpoints in Placentia, Buena Park, Costa Mesa and Rancho Santa Margarita.
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The Placentia, Buena Park and Rancho Santa Margarita checkpoints will be up from 6 this evening through 2 a.m. Saturday. Costa Mesa's runs from 8 p.m. to 3 a.m. Saturday. No exact locations have been disclosed.
The Cypress Police Department has a checkpoint at an undisclosed spot from 6 p.m. Saturday through 2 a.m. Sunday.
Saturation patrols, where extra police units are sent out to areas known for drunken driving arrests, accidents and fatalities, roll tonight in Anaheim, Brea, Fullerton, Irvine, La Palma, Laguna Beach, Placentia, the cities that contract the Orange County Sheriff's Department for police services and Cal State Fullerton. These DUI patrols continue through Memorial Day, Monday.
The California Highway Patrol's maximum enforcement period begins at 6 tonight and runs through midnight Monday. These cover freeways and unincorporated roads throughout Orange County.
Because of the number of graduation ceremonies and other celebrations happening this weekend, the Orange County DUI Task Force advises use of a “designated sober driver,” that those hosting parties limit the amount of alcohol served and provide plenty of food and for anyone who sees a drunken driver to call 9-1-1.
DUI Task Force operations are provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The task force says more checkpoints and patrols next are coming for Independence Day and Labor Day weekend.
UPDATE NO. 1, MAY 24, 2:48 P.M.: The Anaheim Police Department announced today it will also have a DUI checkpoint tonight from 6 through 2 a.m. Saturday.
Like the other agencies, Anaheim is not disclosing where exactly the checkpoint will be.
UPDATE NO. 2, MAY 29, 1:54 P.M.: The Costa Mesa Police Department says Friday night's checkpoint, conducted with the Highway Patrol along northbound Newport Boulevard at Flower Street, was “eventful.” Here are the results:
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