Beginning December 13, 2013, and running through January 2, 2014, the Southern Oregon Coast DUII Taskforce will have police officers out looking for impaired drivers over the Christmas & New Years Holiday. The Southern Oregon Coast DUII Taskforce is made up of Law Enforcement Agencies within Coos County with police officers participating from Coos Bay Police Department, North Bend Police Department, Coquille Police Department, Bandon Police Department, Myrtle Point Police Department, and the Coos County Sheriff’s Office. During this time period agencies will be having individual officers out patrolling the roadways for impaired drivers. On December 28, 2013 all agencies will be participating in a designated High Visibility Enforcement (HVE) deployment. A HVE deployment is an event where two or more agencies from the Taskforce deploy officers on a specific date to aggressively seek out impaired drivers in an effort to deter people from driving after they have been drinking. Specific events have been identified as being more likely to have a higher risk of impaired driving. Some examples include the Christmas Holiday, Superbowl Sunday, and summer time holidays such as labor day. For the Christmas/New Year Holiday, Saturday December 28th, 2013 has been identified as the date for the HVE deployment. The Taskforce would like to remind drivers that under Oregon Law, driving under the influence of alcohol, and/or controlled substances is illegal and will result in arrest. Controlled substances include illegal narcotics such as methamphetamine, Heroin and Marijuana, but also include many prescription medications as well. The Taskforce would like to encourage all drivers this holiday season to be extra careful while operating their vehicle, and remember, if you plan to consume alcohol, please drink responsibly and have a designated driver identified before you start.
