San Diego Police Plan Valentine's Day DUI Patrols

Don't let love get you locked up this weekend.

The San Diego Police Department will be conducting special DUI checkpoints and patrols over the next week, including one on the night of Valentine's Day.

From 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. Saturday, the department will conduct a DUI/drivers license checkpoint at an undisclosed location in San Diego, the department announced Friday.

On Valentine's Day, from 6 pm. to 2 a.m., roving DUI saturation patrols will be deployed. The same is set for Feb. 19.

Officer Mark McCullough said Valentine's Day is a great time to make use of alternative transportation, such as limousines and taxis, to avoid drinking and driving.

And the bus?

"I would never tell anyone to take a date on a bus," McCullough laughed, adding that the department just wants people to plan ahead, including planning the night so that alcohol has time to pass through their system before it's time to drive.

"It is a time of year where if they get caught up in the moment, it could cost them jail time," McCullough said. "We will be out looking."

There will be 21 officers on DUI patrol on Saturday and five on Monday, a day when the DUI squad doesn't usually work, McCullough said. The officers' overtime and other costs associated with the patrols will be covered by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, he said.

The patrols will be sent to areas where people are expected to be drinking, McCullough said without specifying where.