West Valley city upping its DUI-enforcement game

PHOENIX — A West Valley city is stepping up its DUI-enforcement game.

The Avondale Police Department received a $50,000 grant from the Arizona Governor’s Office of Highway Safety. Officer Ray Emmett said the department is soon devoting four nights to DUI enforcement.

“Specifically, [the grant money] will be used for overtime, for extra officers on the road,” he said. “They’ll be doing just DUI enforcement.”

Avondale has also committed to hosting four task forces through September 2017.

The city’s been taking more drunk drivers into custody. Emmett says that’s because of grants like this.

“Overall, [DUI] numbers throughout the state are down,” he said. “Due to grants that we’ve received in the past – and this current grant – we’ve been able to provide more enforcement.”

Last year the Avondale Police Department made 233 DUI arrests. Of those, 76 were for extreme DUI; that means the person had a blood alcohol content, or BAC, above 0.15.

Twenty-two more were aggravated DUI, which means either there were children under the age of 15 in the vehicle, they were driving on a suspended, cancelled, revoked, or restricted license, they had two prior DUI convictions within the last seven years, or no ignition interlock device ordered in the vehicle.

Related

Maricopa County announces 6 new measles exposure sites in Chandler, PhoenixDave Ramsey says: You’re really just trading one expense for anotherDOJ monitoring polling sites for voting rights compliance in 3 Arizona counties on Election DayLive updates for Arizona’s 2026 primaries: DOJ says it’s watching polls in 3 counties‘We know it’s gonna be close,’ Gov. Katie Hobbs says as likely Andy Biggs matchup loomsTechnical issues disrupt a small number of Maricopa County voters on Election Day