A beefed-up Driving Under the Influence Task Force will continue to target drunk drivers through the New Year’s weekend.
Known as Avoid the 13, the effort by The Sonoma Police Department, the county Sheriff’s Department and 11 other agencies includes increased patrols and sobriety checkpoints.
The message: Drunk driving – over the limit, under arrest.
Sonoma County law enforcement agencies will continue to deploy additional officers on local DUI roving patrols in every community in Sonoma County. California Highway Patrol will be staffing 80 percent of all available officers during the four-day New Year’s holiday weekend.
No DUI Checkpoints are planned for Sonoma Valley. There will be one in Santa Rosa but its exact location will not be disclosed to the public.
The anti-DUI campaign continues through Sunday, Jan. 3. It has so far snagged 144 DUI offenders in the first 10 days of a 17-day operation. During the period, there have been seven DUI collisions, but no alcohol-related fatalities in Sonoma County.
Over the 2008 winter holiday DUI campaign, 176 individuals were arrested for DUI in Sonoma County, and there were four DUI related deaths and with 21 DUI related injuries.
