9:34am | On Friday September 2, 2011, the Long Beach Police Department’s Traffic Division conducted a DUI Saturation Patrol throughout the City of Long Beach. This saturation patrol operated from 6:00 p.m. Friday night, until 2:00 a.m. Saturday morning. During the eight-hour operation, eight (8) additional police officers patrolled the City looking for impaired drivers, and produced the following statistics:
5 DUI arrests
1 unlicensed/suspended license citations issued
4 vehicles impounded
38 miscellaneous traffic citations issued
According to the LBPD, DUI Saturation Patrols are a vital component in the fight against drivers under the influence. Nationally, impaired driving caused by alcohol or drugs causes one death every 30 minutes, and one injury every two minutes. The average American has a 30 percent chance of being injured or killed by a driver under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs. DUI Saturation Patrols have been proven to reduce impaired driving related collisions by removing these drivers from our streets.
Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Safety Administration. Christopher J. Murphy, Director of the Office of Traffic Safety said, “When more people drive sober and safely, lives are saved. It’s just that simple. This grant will help make Long Beach just that much safer of a place to work and live.”