Crime Watch Crime Watch

(January 06, 2006)

MV cops make 46 DUI arrests over holidays

Mountain View police arrested 46 people for driving under the influence as part of this year's "Avoid the 13" campaign. The 46 arrests, although down from last year's total, topped every other jurisdiction in the county besides the city of San Jose and the California Highway Patrol.

Police spokesperson Jim Bennett said it was impossible to know whether fewer people were drinking and driving, but attributed the drop in arrests in part to wet weather.

Mountain View was able to put extra officers on the streets after receiving grant funding from the state Office of Traffic Safety and the Department of Alcoholic Beverages Control.

"We would very much like to see that number [of arrests] be zero, but the reality is there are people out there who are putting others at risk," Bennett said.

Avoid the 13 refers to the 13 police departments and jurisdictions in the region which founded the campaign in 1974.

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