CHP Plans Sobriety Checkpoint Tonight

The California Highway Patrol plans to set up a sobriety checkpoint this evening somewhere between Oxnard and Ventura.

The exact location and time of the checkpoint will not be announced until just before the operation begins.

This is the CHP’s second checkpoint this year, said Officer Dave Cockrill. At a checkpoint in June, the CHP arrested four people suspected of driving under the influence, Cockrill said.

“But the purpose really isn’t to arrest anybody,” he said. “The purpose is to get the message out . . . for people to start to take responsibility . . . to get a designated driver, or stay the night, but don’t drink and drive.”

So far this year the CHP has made 1,300 arrests in the county for driving under the influence, Cockrill said. That’s down slightly from last year, when officers arrested 1,440 people for driving under the influence.