AVOID The 12 REPORTS FINAL DUI ARREST TOTALS FOR 18 DAY SUMMER MOBILIZATION

SANTA BARBARA COUNTY - SEPTEMBER 17th, 2010

Santa Barbara County’s dozen law enforcement agencies arrested 189 DUI suspects during an 18-day summer crackdown that ended at midnight last night (MONDAY).

This total is down 20 percent from the 236 in custody during the same effort last year, said Deputy Win Smith, campaign coordinator.

No one died at the hands of a drunk driver this year or last year during the summer event, which included sobriety checkpoints, saturation patrols and increased freeway enforcement.

At a sobriety checkpoint in Carpinteria on Sunday, officers screened all 378 vehicles passing through, conducted 20 DUI investigations but made no DUI arrests. They towed three vehicles, Smith said. Two people were cited for driving while unlicensed and one for driving when their license was suspended for a prior DUI conviction.

Sheriff's Explorer volunteers, trained last week on checkpoints, attended the event and helped set up, tear down, watch the line, direct traffic and count cars. "They were very helpful," Smith said.
They will hit the roads again for one day on Halloween and for 17 days starting Dec. 17 and ending Jan.2.

Avoid the 12 gets its funding from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.