With the holiday season quickly approaching, the Palo Alto Police Department is preparing its annual campaign against drunk driving.
" ’Avoid the Thirteen’ is a county-wide enforcement effort designed to ensure the safety of drivers during the holiday season," PAPD captain Dennis Burns said. " ‘Thirteen’ refers to the number of law enforcement agencies in the county."
Police officers receive refresher training in DUI enforcement, identifying signs of intoxication and memorizing case law decisions.
According to Burns, patrol cars recently had camera systems installed in them, making it easier to document evidence of drunk driving. These cameras will also record the various sobriety tests the officer may require the suspect to perform.
"Avoid the Thirteen" will be mostly taking place during the last few weeks of December this year, and drivers will notice an increase of patrol cars during the night time, according to Burns.
"Our traffic team will be adjusted from working dayshift to working evenings looking for DUIs," Burns said.
According to him, this means there will be about four or five additional officers and a sergeant during the peak hours each night during the campaign.
Drivers will also possibly experience some road congestion or delay at nights due to the two DUI checkpoints that will be set up at night during the campaign. Burns says that these checkpoints will stop every motorist driving by and try to smell any alcohol on their breath.
However, DUIs are not limited to automobiles. Law 21200.S VC involves riding a bicycle while under the influence of alcohol, which is a misdemeanor. Burns admits that he himself has never arrested someone for this crime, although he has witnessed one such arrest taking place.
"Usually it involved a person that was so intoxicated that they would normally have been arrested for [being] drunk in public had they been walking," he said.