Long Beach
Police Department

On Saturday, March 22, 2014, the Long Beach Police Department’s Traffic Section conducted a Driving Under the Influence/Drivers License Checkpoint on Pacific Coast Highway, south of Second Street, from 7 p.m. until 3 a.m. Long Beach Police Explorers, Long Beach Search and Rescue, LBPD Senior Police Partners, Jail personnel, Communications Center staff, and Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) officials assisted. During the eight-hour operation, 2124 vehicles passed through the checkpoint with 732 drivers being screened with the following results:

• Fourteen (14) standard field sobriety tests were conducted, resulting in no DUI arrests
• Four (4) cited for unlicensed driving
• Five (5) cited for suspended license
• Four (4) vehicles impounded due to drivers with suspended licenses

DUI checkpoints are a vital component in the fight against both impaired and unlicensed driving. Nationally, impaired driving by alcohol and/or drugs causes one death every 33 minutes. The average American has a 30% chance of being killed or injured by a driver under the influence. Sobriety checkpoints have been proven to reduce these types of driving-related collisions by removing such drivers from our streets.

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