LAPD Plans Citywide DUI Checkpoints This Week
- LAPD scheduled three DUI checkpoints and six saturation patrols across Los Angeles from April 28 to May 2, with stops in Mission, Hollenbeck, 77th and West Valley. - The biggest single-night push came Thursday, April 30, when checkpoints were set for Florence/Main, Van Nuys/Vanowen, and Laurel Canyon/Riverside from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. - LAPD says sites are chosen from crash-and-arrest data, and a first DUI can still cost about $13,500.
DUI checkpoints are back across Los Angeles, and this one was a pretty broad citywide push. LAPD laid out a full week of enforcement running from Tuesday, April 28, through Saturday, May 2, with both fixed checkpoints and roaming saturation patrols. That matters for two reasons — drivers can expect more stops in several divisions, and LAPD is making clear that this is about more than alcohol. Pills, cannabis, and other drugs count too. ### What did LAPD actually schedule? LAPD’s April 27 notice listed six saturation patrol windows and three checkpoint-heavy nights. Saturation patrols were set for Mission on April 28 and May 1, Hollenbeck on April 29, and 77th/Southeast on April 29, with officers also deployed in 77th/Southeast and West Valley during the prior week’s operation. The more visible part was the checkpoints — places where drivers are briefly stopped in a fixed location. ### Where were the checkpoints? The densest night was Thursday, April 30. LAPD scheduled three checkpoints at Florence Avenue and Main Street, Van Nuys Boulevard and Vanowen Street, and Laurel Canyon Boulevard and Riverside Drive, all from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. Then it added a Friday, May 1 checkpoint at Manchester Boulevard and Hoover Avenue and two more on Saturday, May 2 at Tampa Avenue and Plummer Street and Venice Boulevard and Culver Boulevard. ### What’s a saturation patrol? Basically, it’s the less obvious version of the same enforcement push. Instead of one marked checkpoint, LAPD floods a division with officers looking for signs of impaired driving — weaving, unsafe turns, speeding, or other violations that justify a stop. The checkpoint is the roadblock version. The saturation patrol is the hunting version. ### Why announce the locations in advance? Because deterrence is the point as much as arrests. California agencies regularly publish checkpoint times and locations ahead of time. LAPD said the sites are chosen using data on impaired-driving crashes and arrests, and it also warned that locations can still change at the posted corners. ### Is this just about drunk driving? No — and LAPD went out of its way to say that. The department’s notice said impairment can come from prescription medications, over-the-counter drugs, cannabis, and other substances, not just alcohol. That’s the part people often miss. Legal marijuana is still legal. Driving high is not. ### What’s the penalty if someone gets caught? LAPD used the same warning it often includes in these notices: a first-time DUI can bring average fines and penalties of about $13,500, plus a suspended license. That figure is meant to make the risk feel concrete. A DUI is not just one bad night — it can turn into court costs, insurance pain, and license trouble fast. ### Who’s paying for this? The department said the enforcement program was funded through a California Office of Traffic Safety grant, routed through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. So this is not some one-off local experiment. It fits the usual state and federal traffic-safety playbook around high-risk weekends and nightlife corridors. ### Bottom line The practical takeaway is simple. LAPD used the last week of April and first weekend of May to put checkpoints and patrols across a wide spread of Los Angeles. If you were going out, the safest plan was the boring one — sober driver, rideshare, or stay put. That was the whole point of publishing the map in the first place.
