California Highway Patrol officers will be out in force this weekend for the final crackdown of 2023 targeting drunken and drug-impaired motorists in Riverside County.
The CHP will initiate its New Year’s “maximum enforcement period” at 6 p.m., when all available officers will deploy to catch impaired motorists, speeders and other traffic violators. The campaign will continue until late Monday night.
Officers from the Riverside, Blythe, Indio, San Gorgonio Pass and Temecula CHP stations will be on Inland Empire freeways, highways and unincorporated roads, looking to snare suspects.
“Our personnel work through the holidays to help ensure people arrive safely at their destinations,” CHP Commissioner Sean Duryee said. “The goal is to maintain a safe environment on California’s roads, which is achievable when all motorists make responsible decisions behind the wheel.”
The 2022-23 New Year’s MEP netted 570 arrests statewide, compared to 495 arrests during the 2021-22 campaign, according to the CHP.
This weekend’s crackdown will coincide with year-end anti-DUI campaigns involving the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department and multiple municipal law enforcement agencies countywide.
Deputies and officers have been conducting saturation patrols and staffing sobriety checkpoints to catch intoxicated drivers. Operations will conclude next week.