SACRAMENTO, Calif — While California Highway Patrol [CHP] officials said DUI arrests are down across most of the Sacramento Valley by about 6%, Placer County is seeing an uptick in DUI arrests.
"As a parent, and I'm a parent, I think all we care about is that our kids make it home safely so that we can go to sleep," CHP Officer David Martinez said.
Martinez is with CHP's Auburn division. He said officers made 250 DUI arrests this year. That number is already higher than the total number in 2019, which was 220.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) spokesperson Rhonda Campbell said, according to statistics, a driver would drive impaired about 80 times before law enforcement catches them in the act.
"I think what we want to do is make the public aware that this crime is still happening, and even at higher numbers than before," Campbell said. "We need to do something about it."
Campbell said she is happy CHP is taking additional steps in addressing the problem of drunken driving. Martinez said CHP is creating more DUI checkpoints for the rest of 2020 and into 2021.
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