Crime & Safety

Eighteen DUI Arrests on First Day of 'Avoid the 13'

DUI arrests are down from last year's Memorial Day weekend enforcement, as local police departments and the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department focus on saving lives.

Law enforcement agencies in Santa Clara County made 18 arrests on the first day of a highly publicized Memorial Day weekend DUI crackdown on drinking drivers, county Sherff's Department Sgt. Rick Sung said Saturday.

The 18 arrests is down from the 22 made last year during the 'Avoid the Thirteen' program, which uses grant money to pay for overtime police patrols specifically looking for signs of drunken drivers.

There were two crashes attributed to driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, frequently called "DUI." There were no fatalities.

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"I care the most about the number of DUI crashes that result in injuries and death," Sung said. "Luckily we don't have any for first 24 hours, and I hope it stays that way."

The breakdown of the arrests include:

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- : 3
- : 1
- San Jose CHP: 4
- San Jose Police: 4
- Santa Clara Police: 2
- Sunnyvale Police: 2
- Santa Clara County Sheriff: 2 (no further information as to where arrests were made within its jurisdiction or contracted cities of Cupertino and Los Altos Hills)

The numbers come from arrests made during the 24-hour period from 12:01 am Friday, May 27, through 11:59 PM Friday.

They were made at sobriety checkpoints, special saturation patrols and routine patrol in Santa Clara County reported by 15 county law enforcement agencies.

The numbers do not include all the area arrests being made by the California Highway Patrol, which will release its full statistics at the conclusion of the Memorial Day weekend. The CHP have all available officers patrolling freeways and county roads throughout the weekend, which it calls "maximum enforcement patrol."

Funding for the program, which pays for extra police patrols, was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Sung said police, the sheriff and the CHP want motorists' help in report reporting suspected drunken driving when they see it, by calling 911.



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