The arrests were reported from Dec. 16, 2011 to Jan. 1, 2012, and were part of the “Avoid the 13” enhanced enforcement campaign. All city police departments, the sheriff’s office and California Highway Patrol participated in the annual campaign, which consists of DUI checkpoints and “saturation patrols” to put extra officers on the streets on the nights such as New Years Eve that typically bring out more motorists – and more potentially impaired motorists – than usual.
The agencies are able to assign more officers on such high-traffic nights with grant funds from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Cardoza said.
Morgan Hill police conducted two DUI checkpoints during the 17-day winter holiday campaign, but those did not net any DUI arrests, according to MHPD Sgt. Troy Hoefling. However, on other nights of the campaign Morgan Hill officers arrested 30 motorists on suspicion of DUI from Dec. 16 to Jan. 1.
Last year, MHPD officers contributed 38 arrests of DUI suspects in the city limits during the winter holidays, police said.