Latest DUI Arrest Count in O.C.: 573

From the Orange County Sheriff’s Department:

The summer/Labor Day national anti-DUI crackdown has resulted in DUI arrests from local routine traffic enforcement and special ‘Avoid the 38’ DUI deployments over the past 14 days in Orange County.

From 12:01 a.m. Friday, Aug. 15 through midnight Thursday, Aug. 28 officers and deputies representing 38 county law enforcement agencies have arrested 573 individuals for driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs.

In 2013, 535 DUI arrests occurred during the same 14-day time period. There have been no DUI-related deaths during this time. (**NOTE: These numbers are only provisional with some agencies yet to report.**)

For the Labor Day Holiday weekend, a multi-agency DUI/driver’s license checkpoint with be conducted in the cities of Irvine and Tustin and extra DUI Saturation Patrols will be deployed in the city of Orange tonight. All regularly scheduled traffic and patrol officers will focus efforts at stopping and arresting DUI drivers during their normal shifts. The CHP will be deploying all available officers onto freeways and county roads during their maximum enforcement Period beginning tonight at 6 p.m.

DUI arrest data collection will continue through Labor Day midnight Monday, Sept. 1. Sheriff, police and the CHP encourage all motorists to help make your community safer: Report Drunk Drivers – Call 911.

Funding for this program is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

PHOTO Patch file photo.