- February 5, 2025
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On Friday, May 18, the Port Orange Police Department conducted a DUI checkpoint as part of an ongoing initiative to combat an increase in DUI-related crashes and arrests.
During the four-hour period total of 790 vehicles passed through the checkpoint with 158 vehicles diverted for further contact. No DUI arrests were made, but one individual was arrested for not having a valid driver's license and open warrants from Colorado. Another driver was issued a criminal citation for failing to obey lawful order from a traffic officer.
According to POPD, the "educational and deterrence aspects of the operation appeared to be a success."
At the end of last year, the police department announced additional DUI checkpoints would be conducted throughout the city dependent on previous crashes and DUI arrests. A $12,000 grant from the Florida Department of Transportation was also awarded to the Port Orange Police Department for DUI and Impaired Driving enforcement.
According to the department, between 2016 and 2017 there was a 48% increase of DUI crashes, from 33 to 49, in Port Orange. During this time there was also a 51% increase, from 102 to 154, in DUI arrests.
The POPD wrote that these statistics "clearly demonstrate a need for increased DUI enforcement on state, county and local roadways within Port Orange."
Additionally, it was announced there would be monthly saturation patrols that focus on drunk and impaired driving. Money from the grant will cover the overtime costs for officers to staff the checkpoints and saturation patrols.
The police department has also taken into consideration the city's population growth of nearly 70% since 2000. The department stated that with an increase of vehicles on roadways, there is an expectation that DUI and impaired driving incidents will also increase.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, while more than one million drivers were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics in 2016, this is only 1% of the 111 million self-reported episodes of alcohol-impaired driving among U.S. adults each year.
During the Tuesday, May 15, City Council meeting, Port Orange resident Ted Noftall addressed council members asking the council if they would advise citizens on their rights "should they be caught up in this dragnet."
Noftall also asked council members what they had done to approve the DUI checkpoint.
“If you’re not impaired there’s nothing to worry about. It’s for the safety of the community.” Judy Cotton, program specialist for Mothers Against Drunk Driving for Northeast Florida
"The people that will be pulled in won't be done so based on any suspicion; they'll be pulled in at random," Noftall said, before adding, "Are we going to encourage the police to be sensitive to the rights of the individual or are we going to allow the police to try and bait them, trap them, trick them?"
But the checkpoints aren’t limited to Port Orange. In Jacksonville, an increase of DUI-related motorcycle crashes has led to a similar initiative, according to Judy Cotton, program specialist for Mothers Against Drunk Driving for Northeast Florida.
“They’re good because they take impaired drivers off the road,” Cotton said. “If you’re not impaired there’s nothing to worry about. It’s for the safety of the community.”
