Tipplers’ Task Force Doubles Holiday Arrests : Officers From Nine Law Enforcement Agencies Arrest 149 in 8-Day Crackdown

A task force formed to combat drunk driving in the South Bay arrested nearly twice as many people for driving under the influence this holiday period as it did a year ago.

Between Dec. 19 and Jan. 1, the task force, made up of nine law enforcement agencies, arrested 149 people, 121 of them for driving under the influence.

A year ago, when seven agencies participated in the operation, the force arrested 68 people, 61 for driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

“There were 121 people we took off the street, some of them extremely intoxicated, that could have been involved in a fatal accident,” said Manhattan Beach Sgt. Bill Sapp, task force coordinator.

The task force handled about a dozen non-fatal, alcohol-related accidents, Sapp said.

Public Drunkenness

The rest of the arrests were for public drunkenness, miscellaneous drug charges, robbery and possession of a stolen vehicle.

Sapp said more people apparently decided to risk drinking and driving, possibly because of a decrease in “don’t drink and drive” press coverage.

The addition of the Hermosa Beach and Inglewood police departments to the task force also contributed to the increase in arrests, he said.

This holiday season, 14 officers in 7 cars patrolled areas of the South Bay between 8 p.m. and 4 a.m., compared to 12 officers in 6 patrol cars a year ago. The agencies targeted a one- to four-city area each night. Sapp did not have an estimate on the cost of the task force, which operated from Dec. 19 to 23 and Dec. 27 to Jan. 1.

The driving-under-the-influence arrest statistics include only those made by the task force; other officers from participating cities may have made additional arrests. Arrested motorists were given chemical tests and most spent six hours in jail before being released on a citation, Sapp said.

Law-enforcement representatives have been discussing using the task force during other holiday periods when traffic is heavier than usual and celebrations are more frequent, Sapp said. The final decision will be made by the chiefs of the various agencies.

Other Agencies

Other agencies participating in the task force were the California Highway Patrol, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (including the Lawndale and Lennox substations), and the El Segundo, Gardena, Hawthorne, Manhattan Beach and Redondo Beach police departments.