The Southern Arizona DUI Task Force patrolled Tucson and surrounding areas over the holiday weekend, looking to detect and deter drunken driving.
The task force used sobriety checkpoints and saturation patrols on Friday, Saturday and Monday in areas prone to DUI-related incidents.
The task force includes agencies such as the Tucson Police Department, the Pima County Sheriff's Department, the Oro Valley Police Department, the South Tucson Police Department and the Arizona Department of Public Safety.
DUI officers say the checkpoints and patrols are not solely for arresting people: "It's to have people think twice about driving impaired," said Sgt. Doug Hanna, DUI supervisor for the Pima County Sheriff's Department.
Here are some facts about DUI checkpoints:
• Research: DUI officers research the city and county to find the intersections and streets with the most incidents, notably collisions and traffic stops.
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Officers then consider trends and other factors when deciding where to patrol.
"We look at patterns - for example, if there's one street with high numbers" of crashes, said Sgt. Chris Andreacola, a Tucson police DUI supervisor. "It's a judgment call, not a formula."
• Location: Once officers find an area, they determine if it's safe to set up a checkpoint there:
"What kind of roadway is it - can you effectively do a checkpoint without backing up traffic and causing a hazard?" Andreacola said.
The checkpoints should cause only a minor delay, Hanna said: "We don't want it to be more intrusive than a traffic light."
• Effectiveness: What about drivers who make a quick dash onto a side street to avoid a checkpoint?
"We have officers patrolling the area looking for people who turn off," Andreacola said.
Results for Friday and Saturday
The Southern Arizona DUI Task Force began its DUI deployment Friday. Here are the results through Saturday - there were no DUI patrols Sunday, and Monday totals were not available by press time:
May 28, May 29, Total
Total contacts/stops: 212, 285, 497
Designated drivers: 8, 13, 21
Total DUI arrests: 26, 27, 53
Extreme DUI arrests (blood-alcohol content 0.15 or above): 7, 9, 16
DUI arrests under 21 years old: 2, 3, 5
Average blood-alcohol content (for those arrested): .137, .157, .148
Seat-belt citations: 9, 17, 26
Child-restraint citations: 0, 0, 0
Underage-drinking arrests: 31, 21, 52
Other citations: 219, 246, 465
DUI arrestees with DUI priors: 2, 0, 2
Contact reporter Jamar Younger at jyounger@azstarnet.com or 573-4115.
