Jul 4, 2008

Police beef up patrols for July 4th

Fewer people expected on the roads over holiday weekend

By Mark Abramson / Daily News Staff Writer

The Fourth of July means fireworks, barbecues and, of course, more officers on streets and highways.

California Highway Patrol officials said they will have 80 percent of their officers working as of 6 p.m. Thursday until midnight Sunday, and during peak travel times - 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. - they will have even more officers on the highways.

"We see everything," CHP Sgt. Matt Otterby said about the holiday.

The hours when the most officers will be on the highways seem to be the time when there are the most DUIs with people driving to or from holiday festivities, Otterby said.

Fewer people on the roads this holiday season because of soaring gas prices and the new state law requiring people to use cell phones hands-free may or may not have an effect on the number of arrests and accidents, Otterby added.

The American Automobile Association estimates that the number of Californians who will travel 50 miles or more from home by car for the holiday will drop for the first time this decade to about 3.9 million, which is a 0.4 percent decline from last Fourth of July.

The Redwood City CHP office covers the area from Moffett Field to SFO and from Devil's Slide to the Santa Cruz County line, and the areas that seem to have the most activity in terms of traffic for parades and fireworks shows is on the coast, Otterby said. CHP assists law enforcement agencies in Half Moon Bay with enforcement during the holiday festivities.

San Mateo County Sheriff's officials said they are going to bolster their patrols with at least 30 additional deputies on the streets, starting today. There tends to be an increase in drunk drivers during holidays such as July 4 and other times that involve a lot of celebrations, Sheriff's Lt. Marc Alcantara said.

The sheriff's department is part of the Avoid the 23 campaign, which involves every law enforcement agency in the county typically increasing the number of officers on the streets in an effort to crack down on drinking and driving.

"There's alcohol related issues with most holidays of this sort when you have a lot of barbecues and people at public parks," Alcantara said.

Redwood City police will be out in force for another reason, police Capt. Chris Cesena said.

"We are teaming up with fire marshals within our city to look for illegal fireworks. We have extra officers to do that," Cesena said. "It is because of the fire issues and there is always the possibility of injuries."

Extra officers will be patrolling as part of the city's parade this morning and fireworks show tonight, Cesena added.

In Foster City, all 41 sworn officers in the city's police department will be on duty for the city's holiday fireworks over the lagoon, police Capt. Matt Martell said. The show and the fair-like events near Leo Ryan Park attract 15,000 to 20,000 people and a lot of boaters.

Officers can be placed on boats used by the fire department and public works department if needed to enforce laws on the lagoon, Martell said.

"With the large crowds in the park and festivities going on, we need all of our staff," Martell said. "There is a considerable amount of vessel traffic, however, (boaters) are relatively well-behaved. For the size of crowds we have, we have remarkably few problems."



E-mail Mark Abramson at mabramson@dailynewsgroup.com.