More than 300 Motorists Arrested in DUI Crackdown

The Winter Holiday Anti-Driving Under the Influence (DUI) crackdown has resulted in a significant number of arrests from local routine traffic enforcement and special Avoid the 13 deployments during the past several days in Santa Clara County. 

Between 12:01 a.m. Friday, Dec. 13 and midnight Thursday Dec. 25, officers representing 13 Santa Clara County law enforcement agencies arrested 316 people for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Those numbers are provisional, with some agencies yet to report. During the same 13 day time period in 2012, there were 299 DUI arrests. 

For third weekend of the this year’s Winter Avoid DUI campaign and final six days of the crackdown, a DUI checkpoint will be conducted in the City of Cupertino on Saturday, Dec. 28. 

The CHP will be deploying all available officers for their next maximum enforcement period during New Year’s Eve holiday period starting at 6 p.m. Dec. 31 and continuing through midnight Jan. 1. 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 all part of this regional crackdown. 

Funding for this program is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Police, Sheriff and the CHP officials are asking motorists to help make local roads and highways safer by reporting drunken drivers by calling 911.

-- Submitted by the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office