East Valley Beefs Up DUI Patrols Over the Next Few Weeks

An article from Azcentral.com warns drivers that the Chandler Police Department, along with other agencies, plans to beef up DUI patrols over the next few weeks in the East Valley area.  Every night, 125 officers will roam the streets looking for people driving under the influence.

With help from the Maricopa County Sheriff's Department, the Arizona Department of Public Safety, and the Gila River and Salt River police departments, the patrols will occur in different areas of the East Valley each night.

Upping the amount of police patrols may be in response to the number of people killed in alcohol-related crashes last year. According to the Governor's Office of Highway Safety, of the 849 people killed in auto accidents in Arizona last year, 34 percent of those people were killed in accidents in which alcohol levels were above the legal limit. This number was in spite of the fact that last year's DUI task force arrested 1,629 people over the same 15 day period.  Of that those arrests, 414 were extreme DUIs, 120 were aggravated DUIs, and 260 were drug-related DUI cases.

Law enforcement officials hope that this year people will be smart enough not to drink and drive, but if they do, they will be out there to catch them and place them under arrest.

If you or a loved one has been arrested for drunk driving, click here to find a DUI attorney in your area!