Holiday Mobilization DUI Checkpoint

Drunk and drugged drivers will be under the law-enforcement microscope as Avoid the 12, the Santa Barbara County DUI crackdown, starts its second winter holiday push at the first minute of Friday, Dec. 14.

The campaign is a project of all 12 law enforcement agencies in the county. The 19-day enforcement push ends at midnight on New Year’s Day, said Sheriff’s Deputy Win Smith, campaign coordinator, who will be on night DUI patrol himself in Buellton throughout the crackdown.

Smith expects an increase in the usual number of traffic stops due to the six sobriety and driver’s license checkpoints, in-city DUI patrols and maximum enforcement by the three area commands of the California Highway Patrol that serve the county.

All departments will emphasize DUI enforcement with officers and deputies on regular beats. “Avoid the 12 brought in 165 DUI suspects during last year’s crackdown, which ran for 18 days,” he said. “The good news is that there were no DUI-related deaths and that we reduced our DUI injury rate to 22 from the 25 we logged the year before the crackdown started,” he said. No comparable DUI arrest figures are available.

Saturday, Dec. 15, will see a cooperative Avoid the 12 checkpoint in Lompoc and another by police in Santa Barbara. Santa Maria police plan special DUI patrols that Sunday, Dec. 16.

Lompoc police plan a checkpoint on Friday, Dec. 21, and another on Friday, Dec. 28, said Sgt. Ed Lardner.

The CHP’s Buellton Area Command has set DUI saturation patrols for Friday, Dec. 21, along with the following Saturday and New Year’s Eve, according to Sgt. Mike Mullen.

During New Year’s week, the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Dept. plans a sobriety checkpoint for Goleta on Friday, Dec. 28, with Lompoc police setting up another checkpoint on Saturday, Dec. 29. During the campaign, officers from the California State Parks system will adjust hours to cover prime DUI times, said Supervising Ranger Eric Hjelstrom.

The Santa Barbara CHP will send out special overtime DUI units, stated Capt. Jeff Sgobba, who comments “We will focus on reducing the number of DUI collisions.” Corporal David Millard of the UCSB police will also field special DUI teams and adjust hours to cover times of heavy vehicle traffic.

The Santa Barbara County Law Enforcement Chiefs Association sponsors Avoid the 12, and the California Office of Traffic Safety funds it through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The campaign joins 41 other similar countywide campaigns in California. Avoid the 12 will hold its second cooperative DUI training and awards seminar with Avoid the 14 in neighboring Ventura County in the spring.