DUI arrests may have saved lives during the holidays

There is no way to know whose loved ones are still alive because of the hard work of Thousand Oaks police officers, Ventura County deputies and California Highway Patrol officers who kept drivers impaired with drugs or alcohol from driving on Thousand Oaks streets this holiday season.

There were no DUI fatalities during the winter holiday crackdown that began Dec. 15 and ended at midnight New Year's Day in Ventura County, but 287 DUI suspects were arrested.

Thirty people were arrested in Thousand Oaks by officers from around the county working aggressively to arrest motorists driving under the influence.

With cooperation and grant money from the California Office of Traffic Safety, officers were given overtime to set up sobriety checkpoints and saturation patrols where they stopped those suspected of impaired driving.

The public was asked to help report suspected drunk drivers by calling 911.

"Law enforcement can only do so much," said OTS director Christopher J. Murphy. "Knowing that other motorists are going to report drunk drivers is a significant deterrent. All of our efforts are aimed at preventing a drunk driver from getting behind the wheel in the first place. One phone call really can save a life."

The CHP office arrested 135 drivers in Ventura. Oxnard had 48 arrests, Ventura 23, Simi Valley 20, Camarillo nine and Moorpark and Santa Paula each had six. "We prevented a great many deaths and injuries by taking these dangerous drivers off the road," said campaign coordinator Senior Officer Humberto Jimenez of the Oxnard Police Department.

- - Nancy Needham