Avoid the 13 campaign aims to keep roads safe
By Rebecca Ray
On Friday, Dec. 15, all law enforcement agencies in Santa Clara County will begin their annual Avoid the 13 campaign to deter people from driving drunk on the holidays.
Avoid the 13, which is named for the number of law enforcement agencies in the county, will begin its 19-day run at one minute past midnight and end at midnight on Tuesday, Jan. 2.
The police deployment, now in its 27th year, includes six sobriety checkpoints; two nights of strike team saturation patrol, where agencies will combine their manpower and help cover each others' jurisdictions; and nine nights of intense freeway patrol by the San Jose and Gilroy offices of the California Highway Patrol, the Avoid the 13 campaign said. Law enforcement agencies will also reschedule officers' shifts to coincide with prime DUI times; have officers work overtime; and emphasize DUI enforcement with beat officers.
The Santa Clara County Sheriff's office will assign a minimum of four officers to DUI enforcement in the West Valley area each night, Deputy Pete Evangel of the sheriff's office said. On weekend days--the 15th, 16th, 22nd through 24th and 29th through 31st--six officers will be on duty, and one field supervisor will be in charge of the DUI unit. Officers will look specifically for drivers who appear to be intoxicated.
The sheriff's office will not use roadblocks or checkpoints, where officers stop drivers, hand them an information sheet on drinking and driving; and determine whether they need sobriety checks. It takes a minimum of eight officers for checkpoints, but the sheriff's office says it can get more use out of officers patrolling the area, instead of being in one static location, Evangel said.
The Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department also plans to deploy at least one additional officer each night, whom the department will pay overtime, and who will focus strictly on DUI enforcement, LG-MSPD Sgt. David Gravel said. As many as 10 officers will work during the midnight shift, which lasts from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
During last year's Avoid the 13 campaign, officers across the county arrested 723 DUI suspects. Drinking drivers killed no one, and 23 were hurt in alcohol-related crashes, a campaign spokesperson said.
Similar spin-off campaigns begin the same day in Alameda County with an Avoid the 21 campaign, San Mateo County with Avoid the 23 campaign and Contra Costa County, which has begun its Avoid the 25 campaign this year. Eighty-four law enforcement agencies across the four counties will participate.
Last year, Alameda County, San Mateo County and Santa Clara County officers made a combined total of 1,676 DUI arrests. The sheriff's office made 54 arrests in Saratoga, Cupertino, Los Altos Hills and unincorporated areas over a period of 17 days, tying for seventh out of all the law enforcement agencies in the three-county area, Evangel said.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
