Avoid The 12 Steps up Enforcement for New Year's Eve in Santa Barbara County

Santa Barbara County - December 30th, 2007

130 DUI Suspects Under Arrest since December 14th.

Stepped-up DUI enforcement in Santa Barbara County’s Avoid the 12 crackdown kicks into high gear on New Year’s Eve as the campaign runs a multi-officer strike team in downtown Santa Barbara, the three offices of the California Highway Patrol enter their maximum enforcement periods, and every police agency assigns officers to the street.

With three days to go, officers have arrested 130 DUI suspects, the same total with which they ended last year’s campaign, said Deputy Win Smith of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office, coordinator.

No one has died at the hands of an impaired driver since the 19-day campaign began Dec. 14.

Avoid the 12 is a combined effort of the dozen law enforcement agencies in the county. The California Office of Traffic Safety funds it through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.