New Year's Crackdown Planned On Riverside County Freeways: CHP

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — California Highway Patrol officers will ramp up operations again beginning Wednesday night to crack down on drunken and drug- impaired motorists throughout the Inland Empire and statewide as part of a New Year's anti-DUI campaign.

The CHP will initiate its New Year's "Holiday Enforcement Period" at 6 p.m. Wednesday, when all available officers will deploy to catch impaired motorists, speeders and other traffic violators. The campaign, which replicates a 30-hour HEP that occurred during Christmas, will continue until late Thursday night.

"We're entering a New Year, but our message stays the same: Driving under the influence increases the risks on our roads, raises the chance of a crash and puts lives in danger," CHP Commissioner Sean Duryee said. "We encourage everyone to do their part in keeping our roads safe by making responsible choices behind the wheel."

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.

The 2024-25 New Year's HEP netted 481 arrests statewide, compared to 892 during the 2023-24 campaign, according to the CHP. As in the case for this year's deployment, last year's campaign was abridged due to the holiday falling midweek. However, in 2023-24, the effort spanned three full days and nights because it was a holiday weekend.

The end-of-year crackdown coincides with 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. Those operations will conclude this weekend.