SMPD cracks down on drunk driving
It was a sober holiday season for the Santa Monica Police Department.
From Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day, the police department held three random sobriety check points and a driving under the influence saturation patrol that netted 29 DUI arrests.
Police officials say the number is low compared to past years, but they won’t know for sure until all the data is collected and analyzed over the next few weeks.
One of the 29 arrests was a felony DUI because the impaired driver injured someone bad enough to be taken to the hospital. Police officials did not know what state the individual was in or which hospital they were taken to.
However, according to Lt. George Centeno, commander of the SMPD traffic bureau, the city’s overall DUI arrests decreased by 26 percent last year. In 2000, there were 300 DUI arrests made, but in 2001 that number went down to 233.
“The trend is that they are dropping,” said Centeno. “I think that can be attributed to the continuing education and awareness campaigns many law enforcement agencies are doing.”
In Santa Monica, the police department ran ads in local newspapers, posted flyers warning of random DUI checkpoints and hung a banner off the Fourth Street exit of the 10 Freeway, discouraging drinking and driving.
“We used education and awareness as a key to prevention. We wanted to make sure we advertised and made people aware of the locations of our DUI checkpoints,” said Centeno. “Over the holidays we ran three check points, and one saturation patrol where we targeted one specific area. By doing that we made the public very aware that we were on the lookout (for drunk drivers).”
“Over the holidays we ran three check points, and one saturation patrol where we targeted one specific area. By doing that we made the public very aware that we were on the lookout (for drunk drivers).” — — GEORGE CENTENO Santa Monica Police Department
In California the limit for driving under the influence is.08 percent blood alcohol level for regular driver’s licenses, and.05 percent for operators of commercial vehicles.
“We did a lot of advertising to the public that we would be out in force looking for drunk drivers,” Centeno said. “Maybe that got through and people took a cab or had a designated driver.”
According to Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the efforts made by the city’s police department are exactly what local authorities should be doing.
“The Santa Monica Police Department is making every effort to address DUI in the manner that gets the most attention,” said Tina Pasco, executive director of the group’s Los Angeles County Chapter.
“They take a proactive approach, and I think they are doing an excellent job.
They are one of many agencies conducting check points and roving patrols, which makes them part of a much larger picture,” she said. “But it’s because these local police departments are making an effort at public awareness and education that we are seeing such a positive result.”
Pasco said on average one Southern California family a day is burying a loved one because of a drunk driver.
“So that means, because of the Santa Monica police’s work, there are 29 families that didn’t have to bury a close friend or family member this holiday season,” she said. “That deserves all of our support.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 5, 2002. Read the original PDF.