Crime & Safety
Police Will Try to Arrest Some of You This Weekend
Officers will be contacting drivers, looking for signs of alcohol or drug impairment
The Long Beach Police Department will be looking for drunk or drugged drivers in the south and east areas of Long Beach from 8 p.m. Saturday, July 7, to 4 a.m. Sunday, July 8.
Police say that impaired drivers can expect jail, license suspension, and insurance increases, as well as fines, fees, DUI classes, and other expenses that can exceed $10,000.
It's called a DUI Saturation Patrol. According to a Police Department statement, DUI saturation patrols are a proven enforcement tool effective in reducing the number of persons killed and injured in alcohol-involved crashes. Research shows that crashes involving alcohol drop by an average of 20 percent when well-publicized saturation patrols are conducted often enough.
Here are some local sobering statistics from Sgt. Ernie Kohagura: "Over the course of the past three years, DUI collisions have claimed 13 lives and resulted in 274 injury crashes harming 388 of our friends and neighbors."
Police say that the California Office of Traffic Safety has marked a decline in deaths from drunk and drug-impaired driving. However, hundreds of our friends, family and co-workers are killed each year, along with tens of thousands who are seriously injured, they say.
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They urge anyone who sees an impaired driver to call 9-1-1.
Funding for the saturation patrol is provided to the Long Beach Police Department by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, targeting those who still don’t heed the message to designate a sober driver, according to police.