Garden Grove cops looking for drunken drivers will be more prevalent this holiday season than Santa Claus (and Justin Timberlake) soliciting donations on sidewalks.
To that end, the first of six–count 'em–six DUI checkpoints in December will be staged Saturday night “at an undisclosed location within the city limits,” according to Garden Grove Police Lt. Jeff Nightengale.
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The department spokesman added it is scheduled to run from 9 p.m. Saturday through 3 a.m. Sunday, and that others are planned Dec. 13, 14, 20, 21 and a yet-to-be-announced date. Funding from the federal government, administered through the state, pay for these checkpoints.
Besides sobriety stops, Garden Grove Police are conducting multiple saturation patrols, where specially assigned officers seek to identify and arrest alcohol-impaired drivers on streets known for DUI citations, collisions and fatalities.
“If you're caught driving under the influence, plan on spending some time in jail,” warns Garden Grove Police Sgt. Jim Fischer in a statement. “By having a designated driver, you'll keep yourself and innocent victims safe from tragedy.”
His department and CSP Project Path (CSP standing for Community Service Programs and PATH for Positive Action Toward Health) have teamed for the “Choose Your Ride Wisely, Don't Drink and Drive” campaign. Street banners and freeway signs are part of the campaign that also has the nonprofit's health educators conducting community workshops on alcohol and substance education and prevention.
The organization recently joined with youth from St. Columban Catholic Church for a “Sticker Shock” project, posting stickers with drinking prevention messages at local businesses. Groups from Buena Clinton Youth and Family Center and Santiago High School are conducting other Sticker Shocks during December and January.
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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.