Extra patrols, sobriety checkpoints and a warrant/probation sweep will separate the naughty from the nice as Yolo County’s “Avoid the 8″ task force embarks on its winter holiday DUI enforcement campaign.
Davis police Sgt. Rod Rifredi, the task force’s coordinator, said officers will aggressively seek drunken drivers over the holiday season with plans in place for four DUI/driver’s license checkpoints, a multi-agency strike team, roving DUI saturation patrols and a DUI warrant/probation sweep.
Over the next few weeks, Yolo County law enforcement officers, probation officers and investigators for the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office will have dozens of outstanding arrest warrants and will be fanning out into neighborhoods in search of high-risk DUI offenders, Rifredi said.
Those who either failed to show up for a court date or violated terms of their probation in an outstanding DUI case face arrest and additional jail time, he said.
“The best bet for anyone with a missed DUI court date is to go to court on their own now,” Rifredi said. “If you don’t, that warrant isn’t going away. We’re going to come find you and take you to jail.”
Enforcement activities planned for the next two weeks include:
* This week: Warrant/probation sweep;
* Friday: Sobriety checkpoint, 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. in West Sacramento;
* Saturday: DUI task force operations, 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. in West Sacramento;
* Monday: Sobriety checkpoint, 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. in Winters;
* Friday, Dec. 27: Saturation patrols, 8 p.m. to 3 a.m. in Davis; sobriety checkpoint, 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. in West Sacramento;
* Saturday, Dec. 28: Sobriety checkpoint, 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. in unincorporated Yolo County; and
* Tuesday, Dec. 31: Sobriety checkpoint, 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. in Woodland.
Funding for the Avoid operation is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.