July 4th Party is over – Time to Count the DUI arrests

 

Posted by CotoBlogzz

Rancho Santa Margarita, CA  - The Fourth of July Holiday  Avoid the 38 DUI Campaign period has completed its  deployment of a Sobriety Checkpoint, special DUI Saturation Patrols and officers on routine patrol focused on impaired drivers to lower deaths/injuries on our streets and highways.

The AVOID Anti-DUI Program was launched in the winter of 1973 to bring law enforcement agencies together in countywide clusters to crack down on the drinking driver and reduce the number of deaths and injuries caused by alcohol related crashes. Funding, provided by grants from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency, allows counties to add overtime hours, reassign officers, and conduct public awareness campaigns during the increased enforcement periods.

With Independence Day falling on a Wednesday,  the OCSD figures that many in the  community will be taking the rest of the week off and so DUI checkpoints and saturation patrols will be out in force throughout the weekend in Orange County.

Police, Sheriff and the CHP encourage all motorists to report impaired or dangerous drivers this summer – Report Drunk Drivers – Call 9-1-1 anytime you encounter that dangerous driver.

According to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, the 48 hour effort from 12:01 AM Tuesday, July 3, 2012 through Midnight Wednesday, July 4, 2012 officers representing 38 county law enforcement agencies arrested 78 individuals for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Compare this to the holidays from  12:01 AM Friday, December 18, 2009 through Midnight Sunday, January 3, 2010 Deputies and Officers  arrested 602 individuals for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. We made the argument then and continue to make the argument that while the AVOID program is well intentioned, it is not pro-active and may be wasteful.

For example,  we continue to assert that whether a city is the safest city in the county -  the state or the nation -  or not is primarily a function of residents and local governance, not law enforcement. Take for instance the leadership demonstrated by the cities of Lake Forest and Mission Viejo: Lake Forest's ordinance issuing a 45-day moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries in the city or the Mission Viejo City Council  pioneering work with underage drinking, being the county's first to pass the Social Host ordinance.  Certainly these two cases illustrate a more cost-efficient and proactive approach to public safety than say the AVOID program final 2009 Holiday results  which required three law enforcement agents  for every  arrest. 

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD) is a multi-faceted law enforcement agency with approximately 3,800 sworn and professional staff members along with more than 800 reserve personnel  who provide law enforcement services to 670,000 Orange County residents in 12 contract cities and the unincorporated County areas through 24-hour police patrols, investigative units, parking control and vehicle abatement services.

Additionally, the OCSD provides  coroner, forensic science, correctional facilities, hazardous device squad, communications, court security, John Wayne Airport security, harbor patrol and many other services to the more than three million residents of the County of Orange