Citrus Heights police were busy over Memorial Day weekend, reporting a total of 11 arrests, 13 vehicle tows and 37 citations issued during a two-night “Avoid the 15” DUI crackdown operation — with officers as far as Elk Grove coming to the city to help in the effort.
Kicking off the weekend with a Friday-night “saturation patrol,” officers from Rancho Cordova, Elk Grove and Sacramento police departments assisted in a four-hour crackdown effort, with roving patrols pulling over 69 vehicles and administering 11 field sobriety tests, according to Sergeant Gutierrez with the Citrus Heights Police Department (CHPD). Police said the operation resulted in five DUI arrests and four arrests for “non-DUI related crimes,” as well as 29 citations being issued for various violations — with about half from driving unlicensed or with a suspended license.
Officers set up a multi-agency DUI Checkpoint the following night on Auburn Boulevard near Twin Oaks Avenue, with CHPD reporting a total of 871 vehicles passing through the checkpoint. Gutierrez said two arrests were made and eight citations were issued. More than twenty officers were observed taking part in the effort, coming from Rancho Cordova and Sacramento police departments, as well as officers from Los Rios and the Sacramento County Probation Department.
[Want to know why police advertise DUI checkpoints in advance? See story: CHPD wins $182k grant for more DUI checkpoints, safety enforcement]
The county-wide “Avoid” Task Force plans to organize checkpoints and DUI patrols again during Independence Day and Labor Day holidays, according to a press release from the Sacramento Police Department.
Law enforcement agencies receive funding for the task force by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
