Crime

CHP to run DUI checkpoints in Sacramento County this month. Here’s what you need to know

Sacramento Police set up a DUI checkpoint in 2015 in downtown Sacramento. CHP officials say officers will conduct a DUI checkpoint in eastern Sacramento County on Friday, Aug. 25, 2023.
Sacramento Police set up a DUI checkpoint in 2015 in downtown Sacramento. CHP officials say officers will conduct a DUI checkpoint in eastern Sacramento County on Friday, Aug. 25, 2023. Sacramento Bee file

California Highway Patrol will hold DUI checkpoints on back-to-back Fridays in Sacramento County.

CHP officers will be stationed at an undisclosed location within the unincorporated area of eastern Sacramento County between 8 p.m. and midnight, according to a news release from the CHP’s East Sacramento office, which patrols areas east of Sacramento along the Highway 50 corridor.

“The CHP’s goal is to ensure the safe passage of each and every motorist by targeting roads where there is a high frequency of impaired driving-related arrests or crashes,” the CHP said in the release.

The DUI checkpoint has proven an effective tool for achieving this goal, officers said.

A grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety is funding DUI checkpoints.

Next Friday, CHP will hold another DUI checkpoint in northern Sacramento County.

The checkpoint will be from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. Sept. 1 at an undisclosed location by the CHP’s North Sacramento office.

Both checkpoints will be staffed by CHP officers who are trained in the detection of alcohol- or drug-impaired drivers. CHP Drug Recognition Experts will test drivers suspected of drug use.

Officers will be equipped with hand-held breath testing devices to provide accurate measures of blood alcohol concentrations in suspected drunk drivers.

Drivers charged with a first-time DUI can face a license suspension and an average of $13,500 in fines, according to previous Bee reporting.

This story was originally published August 22, 2023 at 10:26 AM.

Angela Rodriguez
The Sacramento Bee
Angela Rodriguez is a service journalism reporter for The Sacramento Bee and The Modesto Bee.
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