CHP, police to set up DUI checkpoint in Barstow

BARSTOW —The California Highway Patrol and Barstow Police Department plan to set up a checkpoint Saturday night to check for drunk and unlicensed drivers.

The checkpoint will start at 7 p.m. and run through 3 a.m. the next morning, according to a report from Barstow CHP office. The CHP has not released the exact location of the checkpoint yet. The checkpoint will be funded by grant that allows both departments to have officers work overtime, said CHP officer Taj Johnson.

No one was arrested for driving under the influence during a similar checkpoint held after the Independence Day holiday last year, however Johnson did not see that as a failure. He said the reason for a checkpoint is not to arrest a lot of people but to keep unsafe drivers off the road.

The checkpoint falls during a period of maximum enforcement by the CHP. During the holiday weekend, CHP officers will be patrolling the freeways around Barstow to check for impaired drivers and drivers violating the new cell phone laws that went into effect at the beginning of the month.

Under the new laws, a driver may only talk on a cell phone while driving if using a hands free device.
The increased enforcement started at 6:01 p.m. on July 3 and will go until midnight on Sunday.

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