Anaheim cops flood streets known for drunken driving stops, crashes and fatalities tonight and Thursday night, and based on the announcement of anti-DUI operations throughout the county through the end of the year, that city's cops will be the most active in the county when it comes to targeting boozy or druggy motorists.
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Here is a look the operations scheduled so far, according to Orange County law enforcement's anti-DUI task force:
DUI saturation patrols* Tuesday, Dec. 16, 8-p.m.-3 a.m., Anaheim
* Thursday, Dec. 18, 8-p.m.-3 a.m., Anaheim
* Friday, Dec. 19, 8 p.m.-3 a.m., Anaheim and Costa Mesa
* Saturday, Dec. 20, 8 p.m.-3 a.m., Anaheim and Irvine
* Tuesday, Dec. 23, 8 p.m.-3 a.m., Anaheim
* Saturday, Dec. 27, 8 p.m.-3 a.m., Anaheim, La Habra and Orange
* Tuesday, Dec. 30, 8 p.m.-3 a.m., Anaheim
* Wednesday, Dec. 31, 8 p.m.-3 a.m., Anaheim, Irvine, Placentia, Westminster and Brea
* TBD: Additional saturation patrols will be held in Fountain Valley and somewhere in the Orange County Sheriff's Department coverage area on dates to be determined.
DUI/drivers license checkpoints* Friday, Dec. 19, 7 p.m.-3 a.m., Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach, Irvine, La Habra, Mission Viejo, Orange and Garden Grove
* Saturday, Dec. 20, 7 p.m.-3 a.m., Laguna Beach
* Saturday Dec. 27, 7 p.m.-3 a.m., Westminster and Santa Ana
* TBD: Anaheim will hold a checkpoint at a to be determined date this month.
In addition, the Orange County Sheriff's Department plans to hold a warrant/probation sweep for DUI defendants during the winter enforcement period, with details to be announced.
Exact locations of all these operations have not been disclosed.
Statistical data on the number of DUI arrests and DUI fatal crashes will be released at the end of the winter holiday mobilization, deputies add.
Funding comes from a California Office of Traffic Safety grant, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The Weekly will provide updates through New Year's Eve with any newly announced anti-DUI operations as well as reminders about those already detailed here.
The task force says there are many ways to get home safely after drinking (and, no, driving isn't one of them). Designate a sober driver ahead of time, call a friend or family member, use public transportation or call a taxi, deputies recommend.
“The cost of cab fare is nothing compared to a $10,000 DUI or the cost of someone's life, and the 'inconvenience' of not driving your own car home is nothing compared to the inconvenience of spending the holidays behind bars,” they say in the DUI enforcement announcement.
Email: mc****@oc******.com. Twitter: @MatthewTCoker. Follow OC Weekly on Twitter @ocweekly or on Facebook!
OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.