HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010_10_14_AVOIDKICKOFF2011
1 PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CONTACT: October 14, 2010 Lt. Mitchell Willoughby, BPD Traffic Commander 326-3731 mwilloughby@bakersfieldpd.us COUNTY-WIDE DUI ENFORCEMENT CAMPAIGN
ON TAP AS BAKERSFIELD POLICE DEPARTMENT RECEIVES GRANT Building on the successes achieved in recent years, the ‘Avoid the 18’ DUI Task Force will continue DUI enforcement in Kern County.
New equipment purchases and special DUI enforcement campaigns will continue as a result of a recent $345,492.00 grant awarded by the California Office of Traffic Safety to the Bakersfield
Police Department. Bakersfield Police Department will administer the grant for the entire county. Law enforcement in Kern County is dedicated to keeping all roadways safe through enforcement
and education. “This grant funding will allow law enforcement agencies in Kern County to field additional personnel and work together in a collaborative effort to get drunken drivers
out from behind the wheel of their automobiles before they can injury or kill others, or themselves”, said Bakersfield Police Chief Greg Williamson. The ‘Avoid the 18’ DUI Task Force
sends the message that if you don’t drink and drive, you will avoid getting arrested by any of the 18 participating law enforcement agencies in the county. The Avoid DUI grant will continue
to aid all county law enforcement agencies in their efforts to deal with traffic safety problems and reduce the number of persons killed and injured in traffic collisions attributed
to impaired drivers. The grant activities will specifically target those who drink too much and choose to drive. Officers will be staffing DUI/Driver License Checkpoints and will join
together in multi-agency DUI Task Force deployments into different cities, with DUI saturation patrols searching for drunk drivers. This grant also funds local DUI saturation patrols
for each partnering city to address problem areas with identified DUI issues. Additionally, funding will target ‘worst of the worst’ repeat DUI offenders with Warrant/Probation Sweeps
searching for those in violation of court orders and those who have not appeared in court on past DUI arrests. Finally, the Avoid the 18 DUI Task Force will conduct Court Sting Enforcement
Operations focusing on those who leave the courtroom and drive away on suspended licenses after being ordered not to drive by the judge. Avoid the 18 Kern County
2 The grant provides funding for new equipment and officer overtime to conduct the special enforcement activities. All Avoid Task Force operations are above and beyond the regular patrol
and traffic enforcement functions. “The Avoid taskforces have helped reduce DUI deaths on our roadways, lowering drunk driving deaths by nearly 27 percent in the last five years in California,”
said Christopher J. Murphy, Director of the Office of Traffic Safety. “Tragically, alcohol impaired deaths still account for 31 percent of all traffic fatalities. This grant will help
make Bakersfield and Kern County a safer place to live and work.” Motorist can expect to see special DUI campaigns during the Winter and Summer holiday periods as well as on Halloween,
Super Bowl Sunday, St. Patrick’s Day, Cinco de Mayo and during local special events with identified DUI Problems. Funding for the grant comes from the California Office of Traffic Safety
through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. # # #