LAPD Ramps Up Citywide DUI Checkpoints
- The LAPD plans increased DUI checkpoints and patrols across Los Angeles this week to catch impaired drivers. - Officials provided locations and times for multiple checkpoints, warning drivers of heightened enforcement during nights and holidays. - Authorities say enforcement aims to reduce deadly impaired-driving crashes ( patch.com ).
The Los Angeles Police Department is expanding DUI enforcement across the city this week, with checkpoints and saturation patrols scheduled through Sunday. (lapdonline.org) The current operation began Monday, April 20, with saturation patrols in Central and Mission divisions. It continues Wednesday in Central and 77th/Southeast, then shifts Thursday to three checkpoints at Vermont Avenue and 1st Street, Whittier Boulevard and Fresno Street, and Reseda Boulevard and Clark Street. (lapdonline.org) Friday’s schedule adds a checkpoint at Santa Monica Boulevard and Bronson Avenue and a saturation patrol in 77th Division. The week ends with a Sunday checkpoint at Wilshire Boulevard and Valencia Street plus a West Valley saturation patrol from noon to 8 p.m. (lapdonline.org) LAPD says checkpoint sites are chosen from data on impaired-driving crashes and DUI arrests, and it says locations can change or be canceled. The department also says the campaign is funded by a California Office of Traffic Safety grant through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. (lapdonline.org) The department has been running similar operations repeatedly this month, including a separate April 6-12 schedule with checkpoints in the San Fernando Valley, downtown and Mid-City. That earlier plan included stops at Balboa Boulevard and Nordhoff Street, Figueroa Street and 9th Street, and La Brea Boulevard and Rosewood Avenue. (lapdonline.org) California traffic-safety officials say alcohol-impaired driving killed 1,355 people statewide in 2023, down from 1,419 in 2022. The state Office of Traffic Safety still describes alcohol-impaired driving as one of the main causes of deadly and serious-injury crashes on California roads. (ots.ca.gov, ots.ca.gov) LAPD says impaired driving is not limited to alcohol. Its notices warn that some prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications and marijuana can also make driving illegal if they impair the driver. (lapdonline.org) For drivers arrested on a first DUI charge, LAPD says the average cost is about $13,500 in fines and penalties, along with a suspended license. The department’s message this week is straightforward: expect more stops, especially at night, across multiple parts of Los Angeles. (lapdonline.org)
