CHP to Step up Patrols During Holiday Weekend to Snare DUI Suspects

RIVERSIDE (CNS) — California Highway Patrol officers will begin concentrated operations Friday on highways, freeways and roads throughout Riverside County as part of a statewide Memorial Day weekend campaign to snare drunken and other unsafe drivers.

Beginning at 6 p.m. Friday, the CHP will initiate its holiday weekend "maximum enforcement period," during which all available officers hit the streets to catch impaired motorists, as well as other traffic violators. The crackdown will conclude at 11:59 p.m. Monday.

"The core mission of the CHP is to provide the highest level of `Safety, Service and Security’ to the communities we serve," CHP Commissioner Sean Duryee said. "This holiday, motorists can expect to see additional CHP officers patrolling California’s roadways. Our primary focus will be to enhance public safety, deter unsafe driving behavior, and, when necessary, take appropriate enforcement action."

Officers from the Beaumont, Blythe, Indio, Riverside and Temecula CHP stations will be part of the deployment.

Duryee said that seatbelt safety will be among priorities, as the agency continues its ongoing "Click It or Ticket" campaign sponsored by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

During last year’s Memorial Day weekend enforcement effort, the CHP arrested just under 900 motorists on suspicion of drunken or drug-impaired driving, compared to 979 in 2021.

Forty-five vehicle occupants were killed in collisions investigated by the CHP during the 2022 operation.

The MEP will coincide with sobriety checkpoints and saturation patrols planned in a number of municipalities and in unincorporated communities countywide patrolled by sheriff’s deputies.

Copyright 2023, City News Service, Inc.