Chris Cochran, assistant director of Marketing and Public Affairs, California Office of Traffic Safety, answered this question and others about DUI checkpoints for Sacto 9-1-1.
Q: Why do police tip the public about checkpoints ahead of time?
A: There are two reasons for advance publicity. It is a 'best practice' based on court ![CHECKPOINT[1].JPG](http://blogs.sacbee.com/crime/CHECKPOINT%5B1%5D.JPG)
rulings and effectiveness. The State Supreme Court said that advance publicity reduces intrusiveness of the stop at a sobriety checkpoint. The publicity and high visibility adds to their primary deterrence effect.
Q: Why are police doing so many?
A: Virtually all nighttime DUI checkpoints are funded by the state Office of Traffic Safety. We have increased funding for checkpoints and raised their number by approximately 47 percent. Last year there were 1,740 checkpoints statewide. This year we anticipate 2,500. We are doing them because they work, dropping fatality rates up to 25 percent. They save lives better than any other single tactic. That's the bottom line.
Q: How many drunken drivers are caught in the checkpoints?
A: The number varies from city to city, checkpoint to checkpoint. Usually between five and 15 in an urban area. But the number of arrests is not the measure of success. The measure is whether the number of fatalities and injuries declines in the coming years if checkpoints are carried out often and effectively enough.
Q: Do the checkpoints serve a secondary function, such as preventing others from drunk driving?
A: For those who don't ever drink and drive, it reiterates to them that DUI is a dangerous, socially unacceptable behavior. For those who might be contemplating a night out drinking, it serves to warn them ahead of time of the dangers of drinking and driving as well as the consequences of being caught. They then have the opportunity to arrange for a designated sober driver.
Q: Do you have a ballpark figure of the number of checkpoints each year in the Sacramento area?
A: About 70 for the Roseville, Sacramento, Elk Grove, West Sacramento, Citrus Heights, Rancho Cordova, Folsom and unincorporated areas.
Q: Home much money is allocated to the program and when will it run out?
A: The Office of Traffic Safety will spend about $20 million on DUI checkpoints in the state for the year. The amount allocated varies from year to year, but we anticipate it will be in the same ballpark next year.
- Bill Lindelof
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