- February 4, 2025
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The Port Orange Police Department conducted its final DUI checkpoint on Sept. 21, and Police Chief Thomas Grimaldi said the program was successful on all fronts.
Grimaldi said the checkpoint conducted on Sept. 21 at Dunlawton Avenue resulted in one arrest. The checkpoint was the third and final in a series of checkpoints conducted through a $12,000 grant from the Florida Department of Transportation.
The police department was awarded the grant in December, and the first two checkpoints were conducted in May and July. The location of each checkpoint was chosen based on data from previous crashes and DUI arrests.
As stated in the grant, the police department had to conduct a mixture of checkpoints and patrolling focused on drunk and impaired driving, Grimaldi said. Patrols were conducted monthly throughout the city, and Grimaldi said the department has one more roving patrol operation this weekend before they wrap up the program.
The department also did a public awareness campaign to deter people from driving while impaired.
"The education part of it was hands down much more successful than just arresting people," he said. "We're not just trying to arrest people. If they are DUI (driving while under the influence), we will arrest them, but the idea is not to have DUIs in our city."
