The California Highway Patrol (CHP) has secured a
grant from the Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration entitled “Statewide Driving Under the Influence (DUI)
Reduction Effort.” This grant will provide funding for DUI
enforcement in an effort to remove impaired drivers from California’s
roadways. CHP personnel will be deployed
on an overtime basis with the mission of apprehending impaired drivers. In addition to enforcing DUI laws, officers will also enforce all
other traffic safety laws such as, speeding, unsafe passing, and occupant
restraint violations. Utilizing project-funded overtime, the CHP will
conduct a minimum of 200 sobriety checkpoints, 45 DUI task force operations and
deploy DUI roving enforcement patrol operations statewide.
The enforcement activities will be conducted
statewide between January 1, 2007, and December 31, 2007. Locally, Public
Information Officer Craig Harmon said the Amador Unit of CHP will be working in coordination
with the Jackson Police Department, Ione Police Department and the Sheriff’s
Office to conduct DUI Check Points throughout the county. Harmon said that while the CHP usually conducts 1-2 Check points during
the holidays, they now hope to conduct 5-6 this year with the new grant monies.
The grant dollars will also assist to pay Officers for overtime hours for
increased patrols and will fund additional roving DUI units- specifically on
the road to targets impaired drivers. The CHP is urging motorists to help reduce the incidence of DUI
fatalities and injuries by not drinking and driving. Let’s all do our best to keep California
roadways safe in 2007.
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