LAPD Ramps Up DUI Checkpoints This Week
- LAPD announced planned DUI checkpoints across Los Angeles to increase drunk-driving enforcement this week. - Locations and times vary, with officers aiming to reduce impaired-driving incidents and improve road safety. - Drivers should expect checkpoints and possible stops; the department urges sober driving (patch.com).
Los Angeles police are running DUI checkpoints and saturation patrols across the city from April 20 through April 26, with stops scheduled from Central to West Valley. (lapdonline.org) The Los Angeles Police Department said checkpoint operations are set for Thursday, April 23, at Vermont Avenue and 1st Street, Whittier Boulevard and Fresno Street, and Reseda Boulevard and Clark Street, all from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. A fourth checkpoint is scheduled for Friday, April 24, at Santa Monica Boulevard and Bronson Avenue, also from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. (lapdonline.org) The same April 20 notice lists saturation patrols, which are roving enforcement details rather than fixed roadblocks, in Central, Mission, Hollywood, 77th, Southeast, and West Valley divisions. LAPD scheduled those patrols from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m., 4 p.m. to midnight, 6 p.m. to 2 a.m., and noon to 8 p.m., depending on the division and day. (lapdonline.org) LAPD said it chose checkpoint sites using data on impaired-driving crashes and DUI arrests, and it warned that locations can change or be canceled. The department said the operations are meant to remove suspected impaired drivers and to warn motorists about the risks of driving after drinking or using drugs. (lapdonline.org) The department has been running similar citywide operations in consecutive weeks this month. An April 14 LAPD notice listed checkpoints in Pico-Union, Venice, South Los Angeles, the San Fernando Valley, West Adams, Echo Park, and South Los Angeles again, plus saturation patrols in Newton, 77th/Southeast, and Devonshire. (lapdonline.org) Federal data shows why departments keep using these details. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said 12,429 people died in alcohol-impaired-driving crashes in the United States in 2023, or about 34 deaths a day. (nhtsa.gov) In California, DUI checkpoints are legal if police follow limits set by the state Supreme Court in *Ingersoll v. Palmer*, a 1987 ruling that said sobriety checkpoints can pass constitutional review when supervisors set them up and officers minimize intrusion on drivers. (justia.com) LAPD said impaired driving is not limited to alcohol. The department’s April notices said prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, and marijuana can also lead to DUI arrests, and a first-time DUI charge carries an average of $13,500 in fines and penalties plus a suspended license. (lapdonline.org) The funding is coming from a California Office of Traffic Safety grant administered through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. For drivers on Los Angeles streets this week, that means more marked stops, more patrol cars, and more late-night enforcement windows. (lapdonline.org)
