HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009_10_13_09-DUI Enf & Awareness Kickoff
BAKERSFIELD POLICE DEPARTMENT PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 13, 2009 CONTACT: Lt. Scott McDonald/326-3731/SMcDonald@Bakersfieldpd.us BAKERSFIELD POLICE LAUNCHES PROGRAM
TO COMBAT DUI DEATHS AND INJURIES The Bakersfield Police Department has been awarded a new traffic safety grant for a year-long anti-DUI program aimed at preventing deaths and injuries
on our roadways. New enforcement measures to combat impaired driving are coming as a result of a recent $ 589,000 grant awarded by the California Office of Traffic Safety to the City
of Bakersfield. The Bakersfield Police Department is dedicated to keeping our streets safe through both enforcement and education. “This grant will allow the Bakersfield Police Department
to maintain its zero tolerance approach to combating drunk driving on our local roadways,” said Bakersfield Police Chief, Bill Rector. “The Bakersfield Police Department has enjoyed
its partnership with the California Office of Traffic Safety in keeping the motorists in our community safe. As a result of our efforts we have experienced a decrease in DUI related
fatalities since 2006, and an increase in arrests of DUI offenders.” The special DUI Enforcement and Awareness grant is to assist in efforts to reduce the number of persons killed and
injured in alcohol and other drug related collisions. The grant activities will specifically target impaired driving offenders as well as educate the public on the dangers of impaired
driving. This will be done through the use of DUI/driver’s license checkpoints, warrant searches and stakeouts for repeat DUI offenders, saturation patrols, and court stings targeting
DUI offenders with suspended or revoked driver licenses get behind the wheel after leaving court. Drunk driving is one of America’s deadliest crimes. In 2008, over 11,700 people died
in highway crashes involving a driver or motorcycle operator with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 or higher. “Last year in California 1,029 died in alcohol impaired crashes,
a 9 percent reduction reduction in deaths from 2007,” said Christopher J. Murphy, Director of the Office of Traffic Safety. “This grant will help keep that trend going by getting drunk
drivers off the roadways of Bakersfield, making it safer for everyone.” New this year is the addition of ten special Motorcycle Safety Enforcement Operations. Motorcycle fatalities have
been on the rise in California, increasing 175 percent statewide in the last decade, from 204 killed in 1998 to 560 killed in 2008.
Officers of the Bakersfield Police Department will be conducting specialized enforcement efforts throughout the course of the next year. Extra officers will be on duty patrolling areas
frequented by motorcycles. Officers will be cracking down on traffic violations made by motorcyclists, and other vehicle drivers, that result in far too many motorcycle collisions, injuries
and deaths. Funding for the grant comes from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. ###