HUNTINGTON BEACH : City Will Institute Sobriety Checkpoints

Monthly checkpoints to nab drunk drivers will soon be instituted in the city, police officials said Thursday.

A recent $13,000 grant from the state is enabling the city to purchase a fully equipped trailer to be used at sobriety checkpoints, where motorists are stopped to see if they are driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. A condition of the state’s grant is that the city conduct at least one DUI checkpoint a month for one year.

“We’ll probably be able to start the monthly checkpoints in May,” said Sgt. Tris Swan. “Right now we’re in the process of buying the trailer through competitive bids. As soon as we get it and have it equipped, we’ll be starting the checkpoints. We’ll have at least one checkpoint a month for a full year, and we may continue to have them beyond the one-year period.”

In addition to checking the sobriety of motorists, officers will also monitor whether drivers and passengers are wearing seat belts, as required by state law.

“When we check on seat belts, we’ll also be looking to see if young children are in their safety seats,” Swan said.

Swan said each checkpoint, as required by law, will be announced and publicized in advance. The locations will vary.

“We have problems (with drunk drivers) on Pacific Coast Highway. But actually, the problems are worse on some other streets,” Swan said. “Beach Boulevard in our city by far and away has more impaired drivers than any other street. We also have serious problems with impaired drivers on Warner, on Brookhurst, and on Bolsa Chica.”

The city last year was invited by the state Office of Traffic Safety to apply for a grant to finance a checkpoint trailer. State officials said the city had been pre-approved as an optimal site for monthly checkpoints.

Police Chief Ronald E. Lowenberg informed the City Council on Tuesday that the grant from the state had been approved.

In his memo to the council, Lowenberg said that having monthly checkpoints will make Huntington Beach a safer city.

“Research has proven that one of the most powerful deterrents to drunk driving is the perception on the part of drivers that if they drink and drive, they are likely to be detected and arrested for driving while intoxicated,” Lowenberg said. “Roadside sobriety checkpoints produce a greater perceived risk of arrest than do some other types of enforcement.”