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have learned that the city of Costa Mesa has received a state grant for DUI enforcement.  The grant activities will specifically target DUI offenders, Motorcycle Safety, drivers with suspended or revoked licenses, red light running, speeding, and seatbelt violations. This will be done through the use of DUI/driver’s license checkpoints, special enforcement operations, and court stings where DUI offenders with suspended or revoked licenses get behind the wheel after leaving court.

“Thanks to the dedicated hard work of agencies like the Costa Mesa Police Department, California has the fewest traffic fatalities since 1944,” said OTS Director Christopher J. Murphy. “While this is good news, we know that only by keeping the pressure on through enforcement and public awareness can we hope to sustain these declines and save lives.”

DUI/Drivers License Checkpoints are a key component of the grant. These highly visible, widely publicized events are meant to deter impaired driving, not to increase arrests, and law enforcement admits they are not effective at getting drunk drivers arrested.  If you have any questions for a DUI Specialist Orange County, call me anytime, at (877) 568-2977.

Related articles

• Orange County DUI Checkpoint: Irvine Conducts DUI Checkpoint for the Holidays (ocduiblog.com)
• Orange County DUI Checkpoint locations: San Juan Capistrano (ocduiblog.com)
• Orange County DUI arrests are up (ocduiblog.com)

Westminster is one of at least 14 Orange County police departments that have a program requiring drunk drivers involved in a collision to pay for costs relating to emergency services as well as salaries of emergency personnel, according to a staff report. Anaheim, Huntington Beach, Costa Mesa and Los Alamitos have similar programs.

The proposed addition says that intoxicated drivers can be billed for all costs incurred by the city in responding to the incident. This includes salaries of the police and fire personnel, cost of equipment on scene, the cost of repairing or replacing equipment damaged at the scene, medical assistance, cost of investigations including conducting field sobriety tests and costs related to time spent transporting and booking the suspect, conducting chemical tests and writing reports.

Under the law, an intoxicated driver who causes an accident could face a bill as high as $12,000, according to the staff report. The ordinance also provides for an appeal process.

Police officials have said the current cost of a DUI arrest, including vehicle storage fees, license suspension, insurance rate increases, fines, DUI classes and other expenses, can add up to more than $10,000.  If you have questions for a DUI Specialist Orange County, call me, Robert Miller, at (877) 568-2977, anytime.

Related articles

• Orange County DUI Checkpoint Locations: Buena Park and westminster (ocduiblog.com)
• Orange County DUI Arrests go up (ocduiblog.com)
• Orange County DUI Checkpoints: Santa Ana (ocduiblog.com)

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Our Orange County DUI Lawyers received the following as a portion of a press release from the Costa Mesa Police Department:

At the beginning of the 2011 Federal Fiscal Year, Costa Mesa Police Department was awarded a $364,000 Selective Traffic Enforcement Program grant, aimed at reducing the number of persons killed and injured in crashes involving alcohol, drugs, distractions, speed and red light violations. The current grant ends at the end of this month and preliminary results are promising. The Traffic Safety Bureau conducted 20 DUI/Drivers license checkpoints with 24,927 vehicles going through the checkpoints and 13,168 drivers being screened.

The press release goes on to talk about the drop in the number of speed related and red light collisions (perhaps related to Costa Mesa’s decision to take down the red light camera system in the city), but neglects to point out the low arrest rate for DUI cases from checkpoints in the city (sometimes as low as 0-1%), or the substantial fees raised from vehicle impounds not related to DUI.

If you have questions for a DUI specialist Orange County, call me, anytime, at (877) 568-2977.

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• Orange County DUI Checkpoint Locations: Costa Mesa (ocduiblog.com)
• Man Commits Suicide in Front of Costa Mesa Police Officer (laist.com)
• No more free Costa Mesa PD fix-it tickets for non-residents (latimesblogs.latimes.com)
• Costa Mesa police officer delivers baby (latimesblogs.latimes.com)
• Gang member threatened to stab boy, police say (latimesblogs.latimes.com)

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Our Orange County DUI lawyers have been told that on Wednesday, August 31, 2011, the Costa Mesa Police Department conducted a DUI/Drivers License Checkpoint as part of the Traffic Safety Bureau’s commitment to public safety.

The checkpoint was conducted on 19th Street at Pomona Avenue.  This checkpoint was one of many conducted throughout the year along with DUI saturation patrols aimed at removing impaired drivers from our streets and to bring awareness to the public of the dangers of driving under the influence of drugs and or alcohol.  By publishing these educational and enforcement efforts, the Costa Mesa Police Department believes motorists are deterred from drinking and driving.
719 Vehicles went through the checkpoint
672 Drivers were screened
2 Drivers were given Field Sobriety Tests
1 Driver was arrested for DUI
45  Drivers license investigations
22 Citations issued
14 Vehicles towed

Related articles

• Orange County DUI Checkpoints: Costa Mesa after report (ocduiblog.com)
• Orange County DUI Checkpoint Locations: Mission Viejo tomorrow (ocduiblog.com)
• OC DUI Checkpoints: Costa Mesa (ocduiblog.com)

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Our Newport Beach DUI Lawyers have learned directly from the Traffic Division of the Newport Beach Police Department that they will be conducting a sobriety/driver’s license checkpoint on Friday, August 12, 2011. The location of the checkpoint will be northbound Dover Drive at 16th Street. The approximate hours of operation will be from 9:00 p.m. until 3:00 a.m.

The checkpoint location was selected based upon its proximity to bars and restaurants and provides a high degree of visibility to the motoring public. Site determination was also based upon roadway configuration, sight distances, traffic volume, lighting, and motorist safety. A primary consideration was also officer safety.

The checkpoint will be clearly marked and vehicles will be selected to move through the check lanes on a pre-set basis to ensure objectivity and timeliness, according to the police agency.

Checkpoints do not necessarily produce dramatic increases in arrests, as we have reported previously.

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For your information this weekend — our Orange County DUI Lawyers have learned of a DUI checkpoint in Aliso Viejo, conducted by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department from 6:30 p.m., to 2:30 a.m., at a yet undisclosed location.

Also, from Friday, July 1 through July 4, 2011, extra DUI roving patrols will be assigned within the cities of Brea, Buena Park, , Garden Grove, Irvine, La Habra, La Palma, Los Alamitos, Orange, Placentia, Santa Ana, Yorba Linda and the Police Department of the California State University at Fullerton.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Department will deploy roving DUI patrols in their contract cities, and this weekend is a California Highway Patrol Maximum Enforcement Period: CHP will assign all available officers to the
region’s freeways, state highways and unincorporated roads beginning 6:00 p.m. Friday through midnight Monday.

Please be safe on the roads, and if you need to ask questions or help from a DUI Specialist Orange County, call me at (877) 568-2977, anytime.

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Our Newport Beach DUI Lawyers have learned that the Orange County Sheriff’s Department will be conducting a DUI/Drivers License Checkpoint in the City of San Clemente tonight, on Friday, June 17, 2011, from 6:30 p.m. until 2:30 a.m.  To speak with our Orange County DUI Lawyers, call (877) 568-2977 anytime.

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The Costa Mesa Police Department has notified our Orange County DUI Lawyers that they will no longer announce the locations of DUI checkpoints in Orange County in their city.

“The checkpoints are to educate the public about the dangers of DUI and deter it,” Sergeant Makiyama of the Costa Mesa Police Department said. “Should a DUI come through the checkpoint, obviously we want to remove them from the road.”

A 1993 California Supreme Court decision, People v. Banks, ruled that the police were not required to provide advance notice when scheduling DUI sobriety checkpoints as a prerequisite for a sobriety checkpoint. The court ruled that publicly announcing the location is not constitutionally required, but is one of several safeguards for “the maintenance of a constitutionally permissible sobriety checkpoint.”

“Hopefully, those that do learn of our checkpoints will question if they will be drinking and driving in the vicinity of a checkpoint and make good decisions about their rides,” Makiyama said. “In a perfect world we would not have a DUI problem, and checkpoints and saturation patrols would be a waste of time. Until then we will continue trying to keep the streets safe.”

Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer is critical of the traffic delays and points out that most DUI arrests occur later at night. Righeimer said the 6 p.m. to midnight timing was chosen for the end of a shift to give police officers extra overtime pay, which is paid by the federal government.

A KOCI News count from police press releases earlier this year for a previous report on DUI checkpoints showed a DUI arrest rate of about one-fifth of 1% of traffic stopped at the DUI checkpoints.

“They’ve backed off their previous claims and now just say it’s for education,” Righeimer said.

The funding for the Costa Mesa checkpoints is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, which in turn received the money from the federal National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

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The Costa Mesa Police Department conducted a DUI/Drivers License Checkpoint on Monday, June 13, 2011, on Baker, between Bristol and Bear streets.  By asking the press, including our Orange County DUI Lawyers, to publicize these educational and enforcement efforts, the Costa Mesa Police Department believes motorists are deterred from drinking and driving.
DUI checkpoints are not nearly as effective as roving patrols, and this DUI checkpoint proves it. Despite almost 1,500 motorists inconvenienced, the only DUI arrest made at the checkpoint involved a 26-year old Costa Mesa resident on DUI
probation stemming from a previous DUI arrest less than a year ago, making this his third DUI during his short driving experience.  One driver was arrested for an outstanding DUI warrant and another driver was arrested for possession of a switch blade knife and brass knuckles.    The total stats are:
1467 Vehicles through the checkpoint
858  Vehicles screened
3 Drivers given field sobriety tests
1  DUI suspects arrested
1 DUI warrant served 1 Deadly weapons arrest
30  Driver’s license investigations
27  Citations issued
13 Vehicles towed

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So, tonight (a Monday, no less!),  the Costa Mesa Police Department are putting on a DUI/drivers license checkpoint scheduled somewhere within city limits from 6 p.m. to midnight. (Usually near Newport and between 17th and 19th).

Cops will check drivers passing through the stop for licenses and signs of impaired driving. Licenses are the big cash cow for Departments, as they can raise revenue from the 90 day or more impounds.

Look for increased checkpoints and saturation patrols from Fourth of July weekend through Labor Day in August as part of the “Avoid the 26″ campaign.

As usual, funding is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.  If you have any questions, contact our Orange County DUI Lawyers at (877) 568-2977 anytime.