Nearly 450 arrested in countywide anti-DUI operations

RIVERSIDE - A countywide crackdown on drunken and drug-impaired motorists netted 446 arrests over 13 days, authorities said today.

The end-of-summer Riverside County Avoid the 30 campaign -- named for the number of police agencies involved -- got under way the morning of Aug. 15. Between then and Wednesday night, saturation patrols and sobriety checkpoints have been deployed in a number of locations.

The nearly 450 motorists arrested on suspicion of DUI compare to 484 arrested during the same phase of last summer's Avoid campaign, according to Riverside police Sgt. Robert Tipre, the Avoid coordinator.

The crackdown, which continues through Labor Day weekend, is part of a national campaign, ''Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over.''

During the Labor Day holiday weekend, anti-DUI operations are planned in Banning, Beaumont, Blythe, Coachella, Corona, Desert Hot Springs, Eastvale, Indian Wells, Jurupa Valley, La Quinta, Moreno Valley, Palm Desert, Palm Springs, Perris, Riverside, San Jacinto and Temecula.

The Avoid campaign will coincide with the California Highway Patrol's ''Maximum Enforcement Period,'' which begins tonight and continues until Monday night, the same time the Avoid effort will conclude. During the MEP, all available CHP officers are deployed to catch intoxicated motorists, speeders and other traffic violators.

During last summer's two-week Avoid campaign, 695 people were arrested on suspicion of DUI, compared to 710 in 2012.