DUI Saturation patrol proves effective
On Saturday, May 16, 2015, the Long Beach Police Department’s Traffic Section conducted a Driving Under the Influence (DUI) Saturation Patrol from 7:00 p.m. until 3:00 a.m. During the eight-hour operation, motor officers patrolled throughout the city looking for impaired drivers. The officers took the following enforcement actions:
- Conducted forty-four (44) enforcement stops
- Conducted seventeen (17) Standardized Field Sobriety Tests
- Made three (3) DUI arrests
- Made two (2) misdemeanor arrests for drunk in public and assault
- Impounded two (2) vehicles for suspended license driver and unlicensed driver
- Issued twelve (12) traffic citations for unsafe driving
After falling dramatically for five straight years, figures for 2012 showed an increase to 802 deaths in California because someone failed to designate a sober driver. Over the course of the past three years in Long Beach, DUI collisions have claimed nine lives and resulted in 315 injury crashes, harming 420 of our friends and neighbors.
Driving under the influence can impact the economy in addition to the pain and suffering of those immediately affected. Conservatively, a fatality has a $1.4 million impact, an injury $70,000, and a crash that only damages property averages nearly $9000.
Funding for this program is from a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Report Drunk Drivers, Call 9-1-1!