DUI Crackdown Scheduled This Memorial Weekend

Expect heightened police presence in Lake Elsinore this Memorial Day weekend.

The Lake Elsinore Police Department has announced it will conduct a DUI/drivers license checkpoint during the evening hours on Friday at an undisclosed location within the city.

The checkpoint is part of an enforcement blitz that begins Friday night with a number of agencies throughout the region hosting DUI/drivers license checkpoints and/or special DUI saturation patrols. Anti-DUI operations will be out on all three nights of the Memorial Day weekend statewide.

The California Highway Patrol announced this week that it is deploying all available officers Memorial Day weekend onto freeways and county roads in its jurisdiction. Additionally, the agency will conduct a sobriety/driver license checkpoint on Friday in an unincorporated area of Southwest Riverside County.

“The Memorial Day weekend is the first holiday travel period of the summer season and this, coupled with many college and high school graduations, will see friends and families gathering to celebrate, often with alcohol,” a news release from the Lake Elsinore Police Department stated. “Law enforcement is reminding everyone to make plans now for those weekend trips and celebrations to use a 'designated driver' to avert arrest or worse, a deadly drunk driving tragedy.”

"The summer months traditionally see a rise in DUI deaths and injuries," said Chris Murphy, director of the California Office of Traffic Safety. "Let's turn this trend around in 2012. Take measures to use a designated sober driver and call 9-1-1 to report a suspected drunk driver should you witness the tale-tale signs of impairment; such as weaving, crossing the center line, or a driver slow to start when the signal light turns green."