New tool fights drinking and driving New tool fights drinking and driving (March 12, 2004)

$142,000 grant funds mobile trailer to help police
by Teresa C. Brown

The Pleasanton Police Department was awarded a $142,000 California Office of Traffic Safety grant that will be used to purchase a fully equipped Sobriety Checkpoint trailer. The trailer is part of the department's campaign program to increase community awareness of underage drinking and driving as well as promote seatbelt safety.

Police Community Service Officer Lisa Mezzetti said the department is currently in the bidding process for the customized trailer, which the department hopes to acquire within about two months.

"It's basically an RV," Mezzetti said of the approximately 24-foot trailer. While it will have refrigerated storage to keep drawn blood, the trailer will not have sleeping or cooking accommodations.

It will have several functions, including being used as a driving under the influence (DUI) checkpoint, where officers can process DUI suspects at the trailer, rather than taking them to another location, such as Santa Rita Jail.

"They can go in the trailer for blood draws, or for paperwork and interviewing," Mezzetti explained. The ability to process suspects at a trailer will keep more officers patrolling streets, she said.

In addition to being a checkpoint, the trailer will be used as a police command center during major community events, Mezzetti said. It can also function as storage for checkpoint equipment, such as cones and signs, and it can haul motorcycles.

In the past, Pleasanton police have borrowed the Livermore police's trailer whenever a need arose, Mezzetti said.

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