Crime & Safety
RSM, Laguna Beach, Others Under DUI Watch Over Holiday Weekend
A sobriety checkpoint will be in effect Friday night in an effort to curb impaired driving in Rancho Santa Margarita, but OCSD will provide deploy patrols in other cities through Monday.
The Orange County DUI Task Force is deploying officers this holiday weekend at DUI/Driver’s License Checkpoints and DUI Saturation Patrols countywide to arrest impaired drivers and to keep the public aware of the dangers of driving while impaired by alcohol and drugs.
Among the cities that will be under the watchful eye of the law are south Orange County cities Rancho Santa Margarita and Laguna Beach, though drivers throughout south OC could be stopped.
Friday from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m., Rancho Santa Margarita will have a driver's license/sobriety checkpoint; similar checkpoints at the same time will take place in Buena Park and Placentia, and on Saturday there will be a checkpoint in Cypress.
Over the course of the weekend, extra DUI roving patrols will be on the streets of Laguna Beach, as well as Anaheim, Brea, Fullerton, Irvine, La Palma, and Placentia.
Additionally, Orange County Sheriff's Department will deploy saturation patrols in its contract cities—that's from Lake Forest to San Clemente—throughout the weekend.
Memorial Day signals the start of the summer season with college and high school graduations. Unfortunately, it also means a predictable rise in drunk or drugged driving crashes when reckless drivers take to the roadways impaired.
Friends and families will gather for celebrations, often with alcohol, this holiday weekend.
Law enforcement is reminding everyone to make plans now for any weekend trips and partying.
Make sure to use a ‘designated sober driver’ to prevent arrest or worse, a deadly driving tragedy. Law enforcement throughout the region, beginning Friday evening, May 24, will deploy DUI/Driver’s License checkpoints in the cities of Placentia, Cypress, Buena Park and Rancho Santa Margarita.
Special DUI Saturation Patrols will be deploying in the cities of Anaheim, Brea, Placentia, Fullerton, Irvine, La Palma, Laguna Beach and also in the Orange County Sheriff’s Department’s contract cities.
More local DUI Saturation Patrols will be out on Saturday and Sunday nights in cities throughout the county.
The California Highway Patrol is deploying all available officers Memorial Day weekend onto freeways and county roads as part of their maximum enforcement period.
Law enforcement county-wide is asking for everyone’s support this holiday weekend and all summer long by following these simple and easy tips: Plan ahead. Arrange rides home for your friends, family, co-workers and yourself before the drinking begins.
- Those hosting celebrations and servers must limit drinks to your guests or patrons. Don’t serve more than one or two drinks over several hours.
- Cut back on the amount of drinks you plan to bring to the party – and provide plenty of food.
- If you see a drunk driver, call 9-1-1.
Funding for the DUI Task Force is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The Task Force will deploy checkpoints and DUI patrols next during the Independence Day Holiday and during the August/Labor Day DUI campaign.
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