Officers from the Monterey Park Police Department’s DUI (Driving Under the Influence) Enforcement Team will be deploying to stop and arrest alcohol and drug-impaired drivers in the department’s ongoing traffic safety campaign. DUI Saturation Patrols will deploy on Friday, February 21, 2014 between the hours of 7:00 p.m. and 3:00 a.m. in areas with high frequencies of DUI collisions and/or arrests.
“We are working to make our community safe from impaired drivers,” said Monterey Park Police Chief Jim Smith. “This is a ‘zero tolerance’ crackdown so ‘Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over!’”
In California, this deadly crime led to 774 deaths in 2011 because someone failed to designate a sober driver. In Monterey Park over the past three years, DUI collisions have claimed one life and resulted in 33 injury crashes harming 44 of our friends and neighbors.
DUI can impact the economy in addition to the pain and suffering of those immediately affected. Conservatively, a fatality has a $1.4 million impact, an injury $70,000, and a crash that only damages property averages nearly $9,000.
“California’s roadways are very much safer today than they were just a few years ago,” said Chief Smith. “The Monterey Park Police Department will be keeping the pressure on through enforcement and public awareness so that we can continue saving lives and prevent injuries.”
Funding for this program is from a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Report drunk drivers, call 911!
Media contact
Sgt. Brent Archibald, Monterey Park Police Department Traffic Bureau
barchibald@montereypark.ca.gov
626-307-1481
www.ci.monterey-park.ca.us