'AVOID The 12' Receives Grant to Continue Another Year of Countywide DUI Enforcement

SANTA BARBARA COUNTY - NOVEMBER 3rd, 2011

‘AVOID the 12’, Santa Barbara County’s multi-jurisdictional enforcement of DUI driver’s, has received a $135,000 one year grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, to continue targeted DUI enforcement through September 2012.

“The grant, which is administered by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office, funds enforcement efforts through DUI/driver’s license checkpoints, DUI saturation patrols, multi-agency DUI task force deployments, court stings and warrant/probation operations,” stated Senior Deputy Jeff Farmer, ‘AVOID the 12’ coordinator. 

The ‘AVOID the 12’ DUI Campaign is named to send the message that you will avoid being arrested if you don’t drive while impaired, either by drugs or alcohol.  The 12 represents the number of law enforcement agencies in the county that are participating with this campaign.  ‘AVOID the 12’ has been active in this county for the past six years.

“The Avoid DUI Task Forces have been an essential part of the phenomenal reduction in DUI deaths on our roadways in the last five years in California,” said Christopher J. Murphy, Director of the Office of Traffic Safety.  “Tragically, DUI deaths remain the largest sector, at over 30 percent of traffic fatalities. This grant will help combat that and make Santa Barbara County a safer place to live and work.”

DUI/Driver’s License Checkpoints are a key component of the grant.  These highly visible, highly publicized events are meant to deter impaired driving, not to increase arrests.  Research shows that crashes involving alcohol drop by an average of 20 percent when well-publicized checkpoints are conducted.

Motorist can expect to see DUI campaigns during the winter and summer holiday periods as well as on Halloween, Super Bowl Sunday, St. Patrick’s Day, Cinco de Mayo, Santa Barbara Old Spanish Days and other local special events with identified DUI problems. 

42 of California’s counties participate in the AVOID campaigns.  They are the largest funded DUI crackdowns in the United States, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Funding for this operation is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

For more information contact:

Sergeant Kevin Huddle

Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Office

(805) 961-7516

Klh2765@sbsheriff.org