DUI Lawyer San Pablo, CA

City of San Pablo

Population: Approximately 32,000

San Pablo Police Department is comprised of 55 sworn officers. (apprx. 30 in patrol)

DUI Enforcement by San Pablo, CA Police Department

The City of San Pablo Police Department has taken on a “Zero Tolerance” policy relative to strict enforcement of DUI laws. The Department has received grant funds for the purpose of hiring a “DUI Officer” whose sole duty is to conduct DUI arrest. Approximate number of DUI arrests per year 150-200. The “DUI Officer was recently given an award by MADD for conducting the most arrest in Contra Costa County. Most arrests are made by the Patrol Division. Most DUI enforcement activity occurs on or near Market St., El Portal and San Pablo Avenue. High DUI saturation activity occurs along the corridors of San Pablo Avenue along Highway 80. It is most common for arrest to occur at intersections near freeway on-ramps and freeway exits. Because of its central location, sharing borders with a number of other cities and freeway access arrestees tend to be from different cities in the area.

A bi-product of the department’s aggressive pursuit of state and federal grant money for DUI enforcement activities is the fact that most San Pablo Police Department Officers do conduct a form of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Standardized Field Sobriety Tests. (SFST). Most grant funding comes from the Office of Traffic Safety (OTS-state agency), which requires administration of NHTSA SFST during DUI enforcement action. In 2007 the Department received a substantial grant resulting in many of the patrol officers completing the certified NHTSA training program. However since that time most officer only receive an abbreviated version of training.

The San Pablo Police Department generally uses an Alco-Sensor IV Preliminary Alcohol breath testing (PAS) device at the scene of arrest. Implied Consent breath tests are given on the Drager Alco-Test 7110 MKIIIC as are all breath tests in Contra Costa County. The Drager 7110 breath tests are administered at the San Pablo Police Station. Blood Tests are generally administered at the San Pablo Police Department by phlebotomists from Central Medical Laboratories (CML) through a contract with the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Toxicology Unit.

DUI Checkpoints and License Checkpoints

The San Pablo Police Department is actively involved in their checkpoint operations. A Sergeant is specially assigned to oversee checkpoint activity, including solicitations for grants (specially trained by Office of Traffic Safety), as well as organization and supervision of checkpoint activity. As a result checkpoints in San Pablo occur approximately 4 times per year. This is separate from Avoid The 25 activity; and is a high number for a city of this size. The funding they receive

from grants allows the Department to conduct Saturation Patrols, Warrant Sweeps, Court Stings and DUI Stakeouts. Like most agencies the San Pablo Police Department has increased Saturation Patrols over the past few years currently conducting approximately 50 per year.

Joint Operations

The San Pablo Police Department is part of the “Avoid the 25” an association of 25 local agencies who join resources for saturation patrols, checkpoints and other enforcement actions. The Contra Costa County Avoid the 25 Anti-DUI Task Force funding is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Underage Drinking

The San Pablo Police Department does not have any active component specifically targeting underage drinking. However, underage age drinkers are routinely arrested as part of the overall DUI enforcement efforts.

Other Traffic Enforcement

The San Pablo Police Department is particularly active in seat belt, car seat, speeding and commercial traffic enforcement. Each of these areas are high revenue producers along with DUI enforcement.

Vehicle Impoundment

This San Pablo Police Department is actively engaged in impoundment of vehicles that are un registered or driven by officers without a driver’s license or driving with a suspended license.

Court Jurisdiction

Persons arrested from San Pablo Police Department upon release will be given a citation to appear at the Richmond Courthouse.

After years of experience in Contra Costa County, attorney at The Law Offices of Johnson & Johnson have gained a great deal of information and knowledge regarding the DUI enforcement operations of the San Pablo Police Department.

Contact our office to schedule a consultation to discuss how our San Pablo DUI attorney can help defend you from a DUI arrest by the San Pablo Police Department.