Palm Desert Police Scheduled to Be Out in Force Soon

Palm Desert Police’s DUI Enforcement Team will be adding patrols this weekend as part of a saturation patrol effort.

Officers will be looking for drivers who may be under the influence. The campaign runs from 7 p.m. Saturday to 3 a.m. Sunday throughout locations that police officials described as areas with high frequencies of DUI collisions and/or arrests.

“In California, this deadly crime led to 774 deaths in 2010 because someone failed to designate a sober driver,” Sgt. Dave Adams wrote in a news release. “After falling dramatically for five straight years, figures for 2011 indicate that DUI deaths remained the same as 2010. Over the course of the past three years, DUI collisions have claimed 3 lives and resulted in 58 injury crashes harming 84 of our friends and neighbors.”

Adams warned that DUI’s can impact the economy in addition to the pain and suffering of those immediately affected.

Conservatively, a fatality has a $1.4 million impact, an injury $70,000, and a crash that only damages property averages nearly $9,000, Adams wrote.

“California's roadways are very much safer than they were before 2006," said OTS Director Christopher J. Murphy. "The Palm Desert Police Department will be keeping the pressure on through enforcement and public awareness so that we can continue saving lives and reach the vision we all share – Toward zero deaths, every 1 counts."

Funding for this program comes from a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Residents are encouraged to report drunk drivers by calling 9-1-1.