AVOID the 13 makes preemptive strike against DUI

Law enforcement officers on a multi-Agency DUI task force dubbed
AVOID the 13, will be checking their lists twice this holiday
season.
Around two dozen officers met Saturday evening at the Santa Rosa
Police Department for a countywide DUI task force briefing, where
they were each given lists of DUI warrant suspects from their
respective jurisdictions, along with a “hot sheet” that listed DUI
probationers and the terms of their probation by city.
Assisted by three probation officers, they then set out across
the county conducting probation compliance checks on repeat and
habitual DUI offenders, according to Sgt. Ken Savano of the
Petaluma Police Department, which serves as the lead agency for the
regional DUI enforcement efforts in Sonoma County.
That night there were a total of 12 probation checks on DUI
offenders, resulting in the arrest of 19-time DUI offender, William
Beall, 65, of Santa Rosa.
In addition, that same night officers attempted to serve 51 DUI
warrants that resulted in seven people being arrested for warrants,
according to Savano. Officers working the task force operation
(which does not include officers outside the task force who also
make traffic stops) Saturday night made 76 traffic stops, conducted
seven field sobriety tests, and arrested four drivers for DUI. Ten
other drivers were issued citations or arrested for other
violations.
All 13 agencies are involved in the probation compliance checks,
along with warrant sting operations, DUI checkpoints, and DUI
saturation patrols, which will be in full swing throughout the
county during the special enforcement period known as “Winter
Holiday Mobilization” – Dec. 17 through Jan. 3
The goal of AVOID the 13 is to reduce alcohol-involved
fatalities and injuries, and raise general public awareness
regarding the problems associated with drinking and driving.
Countywide, the California Highway Patrol this year has
investigated 24 fatalities, resulting from auto accidents.
Of that number, 11 were DUI related, according to CHP Public
Information Officer Jon Sloat.
“On average about half of our fatalities each year are DUI
related,” he said. “It has gotten better. When I first arrived in
Sonoma County in 2000 we had an average fatality number of about 40
a year,” Sloat said. (These statistics refer only to fatalities in
the CHP’s jurisdiction.)
Sloat attributed the decline in fatalities to enforcement.
“Just writing more tickets, making more DUI arrests,” he said,
adding public outreach by many local police departments has also
brought the issue to the forefront.
As of Tuesday (Dec. 21), the AVOID the 13 DUI Task Force had
made a total of 33 arrests since the beginning of the campaign. Of
those, 28 people were arrested for DUI and five were arrested for
outstanding DUI warrants. Only two DUI crashes involving injuries
had occurred, and there had been no fatal alcohol-related
crashes.
Last year the AVOID the 13-Sonoma County DUI Task Force arrested
201 DUI drivers during the same campaign. There were a total of
eight injury DUI crashes, injuring 10 people. 
The AVOID the 13 DUI Enforcement and Education Task Force is
funded by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety,
through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
AVOID the 13 is a collaborative enforcement and education effort
between the 13 law enforcement agencies in Sonoma County. 
Participating agencies include police departments from the
cities of Cloverdale, Cotati, Healdsburg, Petaluma, Rohnert Park,
Santa Rosa, Sebastopol, Sonoma, and Windsor, and the Sonoma County
Sheriff’s Office, the Sonoma County Probation Department, Sonoma
State University Police Department, Santa Rosa Junior College
Police Department, ABC, MADD, California State Parks and the
CHP.
Grant funded activities include DUI checkpoints, DUI saturation
patrols, DUI task force operations and warrant/court sting
operations and probation/parole compliance checks for repeat DUI
offenders during the Memorial Day, Fourth of July, August-Labor Day
Mobilization, Winter Holiday Mobilization, and other designated
special events and holidays with identified DUI problems.