- Video shows Sergeant Mike Karr with the California Highway Patrol in Fort Tejon sharing numbers regarding the Maximum Enforcement Period over the holidays.
- More than 60 tickets passed out were for speeding
- CHP plans their next Maximum Enforcement Period for New Years beginning friday night at 6 p.m. and running through New Year's day.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
It's a busy week for law enforcement to end the year. As many people spend the holiday weekend with family and friends, the California Highway Patrol is one of many organizations trying to make sure you get where you're going safely.
“We get the maximum amount of people that we can, officers working the road," Sergeant Mike Karr with CHP in Fort Tejon said. "[We’re] out there handling calls going to crashes, arresting DUIs, whatever we can.”
Maximum enforcement is underway – a time when CHP puts every available officer out on the roadways, looking for unsafe drivers.
From the Friday before Christmas at 6:01 p.m. until just before midnight Christmas day, officers were on high alert for the holidays.
“Rough numbers estimate, it was about 60 tickets for speeding,” Sgt. Karr said. “Ten of those were at over 100 miles an hour. A couple of vehicle impounds, one DUI, and two arrests for stolen vehicles– so two felony arrests and a couple of verbal warnings.”
All of this was just in Fort Tejon, but the CHP Central Division spans up to Modesto, adding to this number.
“[There were] approximately 143 DUI arrests this year for the division-wide, compared to last year [which] was about 76 DUI arrests," Sgt. Karr said.
Also a somber holiday for a handful of families with five deaths during the maximum enforcement period.
“It’s a good thing they’re out there and they probably did prevent a lot more compared to 2022, which was four. So we were up one.” Sgt. Karr said.
Despite the circumstances, CHP found the silver lining.
Sgt. Karr added, “We were out there trying to save some lives for sure. And that’s why we do these MEP pushes.”
The CHP will be back out on full patrol for the upcoming New Year's weekend, beginning Friday at 6 p.m. and running through New Year's Day.
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