Behind the Badge
Westminster Police this weekend will hold a DUI checkpoint in an effort to deter drunken drivers and educate the public about the dangers of drinking and getting behind the wheel.
Officers will be out from 8:30 p.m. Saturday until about 3 a.m. Sunday on Brookhurst Street, north of McFadden Avenue, looking to pull impaired drivers off the road and check licenses.
Checkpoint locations are chosen based on the frequency of drunken driving arrests and the number of crashes in an area, police said.
Police said research shows crashes involving impaired drivers can be reduced up to 20 percent when departments advertise they will be running a checkpoint.
“In 2012, Westminster experienced 72 alcohol-related collisions, 29 people injured and three killed in these tragic crashes” said Westminster Investigator Jeremy Fletcher.
Statewide that same year, 774 people died in drunken driving collisions. Nationally, nearly 10,000 people were killed by impaired drivers.
Westminster police will also have specially trained officers on site to check for drug-impaired drivers.
Police said about 30 percent of drivers involved in fatal crashes had one or more drugs in their system, with Marijuana being the leading drug detected.
The checkpoint is supported by grant funding from the California Office of Traffic Safety.
Any resident who sees a suspected drunken driver is encouraged to immediately report it to police.
