DUI crackdown set for Labor Day weekend

Police will target drunken drivers over the Labor Day weekend in Colusa, Sutter and Yuba counties.

"We're going to have extra officers on the streets over the weekend," Williams Police Chief Jim Saso said.

The effort is part of the Avoid the 9 drunken driving crackdown that kicked off Aug. 17.

Officers have reported 43 DUI arrests among the three counties since the crackdown began, and nearly every local law-enforcment agency is participating.

The Colusa Police Department, however, is stretched too thin with a recent homicide investigation to deploy extra officers over the holiday weekend and only routine patrols are expected, Chief Ross Stark said.

"We're burning all our guys up with the shooting," Stark acknowledged.

Additional patrols are expected in Yuba and Sutter counties as well, Marysville police Sgt. Chris Sachs said.

Yuba City police Sgt. Mike Green called it a "zero tolerance crackdown."

The California Highway Patrol's "Maximum Enforcement Period" kicked off Friday.

During last year's Labor Day weekend, the CHP reported 29 deaths statewide related to drunken driving, which the agency said was a 38 percent spike from 2010.

According to the state Office of Traffic Safety, 791 people died in 2010 as a result of impaired driving.

The CHP averages about 1,500 drunken driving arrests on Labor Day weekends, according to the department.

Drunken drivers face jail time, license suspension, insurance increases as well as fines, fees and DUI classes that can exceed $10,000.

The Avoid the 9 Task Force is funded by a grant from the state Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Administration.