Arizona traffic stops down, DUI arrests up over Labor Day weekend

PHOENIX — Traffic stops in Arizona were down from last year over Labor Day weekend but DUI arrests were up, according to data from the governor’s office.

There were 14,761 stops in the state from Friday to Monday, compared to 17,772 stops over Labor Day weekend in 2017.

However, there were 531 DUI arrests this year, an increase from 510 in 2017.

“The purpose of the detail is to keep people who are enjoying (the holiday) … safe, make sure they can make it home without somebody else who is impaired hitting them,” Alberto Gutier, director of the Arizona Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, told KTAR News 92.3 FM on Tuesday.

The Arizona Department of Public Safety and the police departments from Scottsdale, Phoenix, Mesa, Chandler and Tucson accounted for 58 percent of the state’s DUI arrests.

About 300 fewer officers participated in the traffic detail this year than in 2017. There were 2,717 officers on Arizona roads last weekend, compared to 3,031 a year ago.

“They went out there and they did their jobs, and that’s what’s important,” Gutier said.

The overall number of citations issued fell considerably, from 4,089 in 2017 to 3,119.

A good sign from the weekend was in increase in sober designated driver contacts. That number went from 598 in 2017 to 734 this year.

KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Ashley Flood contributed to this report.

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