By Daily Press staff
Local police are cracking down on drunk drivers tonight in anticipation of graduates possibly celebrating too much.
The Santa Monica Police Department will conduct a saturation patrol today, meaning more officers will be on the streets looking for drunk drivers. Hundreds of students are graduating from Malibu and Santa Monica high schools today. (See related story).
More than 59 percent of fatal car crashes among teens involving alcohol or other drugs happen during prom and graduation season, SMPD officials said.
The saturation patrol is part of the “Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws” grant and is funded in cooperation with the state of California, Business, Transportation and Housing Agency, Office of Traffic Safety and the Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and the U.S. Department of Justice.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 23, 2005. Read the original PDF.