Friday, December 23, 2005
San Diego DUI: Remain in Jail for the Holidays
DUI get-out-of-jail policy gets locked up for holidays
By Brian Hazle
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
December 23, 2005
Police say they've got a present for people caught driving while intoxicated over Christmas and New Year's and can't post bail: a three-night stay in any of the county's jails.
Each year at this time, the Sheriff's Department suspends its conditional release policy that offers certain people the chance to get out of jail on just a promise to appear in court.
If people can't come up with the bail, they stay until they see a judge.
Additional officers from nearly every law-enforcement agency will be on duty, zeroing in on drunken drivers and other traffic violators through Jan. 2.
The California Highway Patrol is leading the charge. Nearly 80 percent of its officers in the county will be working at least one shift during the holidays.
The CHP hopes the presence of more officers on the highway will deter impaired drivers from even getting behind the wheel. In addition to roving DUI patrols, the officers will staff nearly a dozen sobriety checkpoints.
Typically, the checkpoints are multiagency efforts that involve the CHP, local police and sheriff's deputies. The locations and times of the special enforcement vary and usually are not publicized.
Such efforts seem to be paying dividends in Escondido, for example, where police this year have logged 1,054 DUI arrests, a 55 percent increase over the same time last year, the department said.
The ongoing operations mirror tactics being used elsewhere in the county and state to enforce traffic and alcoholic beverage control laws and to promote traffic safety.
The number of deaths and injuries attributed to alcohol statewide had declined each year for a decade until 1999. Slight increases have occurred each year since, the CHP said.
There were 110 alcohol-related fatalities in San Diego County in 2004 and 3,180 injuries. The figures have remained about the same for the past several years.
During the same time, more than 17,000 drivers were arrested for DUI in the county.
By Brian Hazle
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
December 23, 2005
Police say they've got a present for people caught driving while intoxicated over Christmas and New Year's and can't post bail: a three-night stay in any of the county's jails.
Each year at this time, the Sheriff's Department suspends its conditional release policy that offers certain people the chance to get out of jail on just a promise to appear in court.
If people can't come up with the bail, they stay until they see a judge.
Additional officers from nearly every law-enforcement agency will be on duty, zeroing in on drunken drivers and other traffic violators through Jan. 2.
The California Highway Patrol is leading the charge. Nearly 80 percent of its officers in the county will be working at least one shift during the holidays.
The CHP hopes the presence of more officers on the highway will deter impaired drivers from even getting behind the wheel. In addition to roving DUI patrols, the officers will staff nearly a dozen sobriety checkpoints.
Typically, the checkpoints are multiagency efforts that involve the CHP, local police and sheriff's deputies. The locations and times of the special enforcement vary and usually are not publicized.
Such efforts seem to be paying dividends in Escondido, for example, where police this year have logged 1,054 DUI arrests, a 55 percent increase over the same time last year, the department said.
The ongoing operations mirror tactics being used elsewhere in the county and state to enforce traffic and alcoholic beverage control laws and to promote traffic safety.
The number of deaths and injuries attributed to alcohol statewide had declined each year for a decade until 1999. Slight increases have occurred each year since, the CHP said.
There were 110 alcohol-related fatalities in San Diego County in 2004 and 3,180 injuries. The figures have remained about the same for the past several years.
During the same time, more than 17,000 drivers were arrested for DUI in the county.
# posted by SanDiegoDUI @ 8:34 AM 
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