A DUI and driver’s license checkpoint will be conducted this Saturday and Sunday in Citrus Heights, police said in a news release issued this week.
Police said the checkpoint will be held at “an undisclosed location” between 8 p.m. and 2 a.m., beginning Saturday night, Aug. 13, and continuing through Sunday morning.
The operation will include officers briefly stopping vehicles to look for signs of alcohol and drug impairment, as well as checking drivers for proper licensing. Officers will also be on scene to evaluate those suspected of drug-impaired driving, which can include many prescription drugs and over-the-counter medications, according to the news release.
Last month, police reported that a six-hour checkpoint on San Juan Avenue near Sperry Drive resulted in 672 vehicles being stopped, with nine sobriety field tests conducted. According to an “after action” report, no DUI alcohol or drug arrests made during the checkpoint, but one person was arrested for a felony warrant and seven citations were issued to drivers for operating a vehicle without a license or with a suspended license.
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As previously reported on The Sentinel, the Citrus Heights Police Department says it announces DUI operations in advance as a public awareness tool to help deter drivers from getting behind the wheel drunk in the first place. California’s State Supreme Court has also ruled that advance publicity is a key component of maintaining “a constitutionally permissible sobriety checkpoint.”
Funding for CHPD’s checkpoints comes from a California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) grant, through the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration. Last November, CHPD announced it had received a $236,190 OTS grant to help fund a year-long program of safety-related efforts, including DUI checkpoints and distracted driving enforcement.
