AVOID The 12 Halloween Crackdown

Isla Vista - Goleta- October 28th, 2008

Supplementing a massive deployment of sheriff’s deputies assigned to the traditionally raucous Halloween weekend unorganized street party, Avoid the 12 will field four extra patrol units with the sole responsibility of keeping drunk drivers from entering or leaving Isla Vista.

“There is no good time to be driving drunk or high,” said Dep. Win Smith, coordinator of the countywide crackdown on impaired drivers.  “This will be just about the worst.”

The extra units will focus on Goleta and the areas surrounding Isla Vista. The California Office of Traffic Safety funds Avoid the 12 through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The Santa Barbara office of the California Highway Patrol also plans a sobriety checkpoint during the weekend.

“Deputies and UCSB officers, along with Lompoc Police Officers and State Park Rangers will staff the patrols,” Smith said.

“We will have zero tolerance toward law breakers. It will be nearly impossible to drive and park in Isla Vista because of the massive amount of visitors expected, most of them from out of town.”