Several dozen cars stopped. 

Several field sobriety tests administered.

And zero DUI arrests. 

That’s a holiday weekend that Manteca Police Department traffic officers don’t mind seeing when they come back in to work on Monday. 

With roving saturation patrols blanketing the city over the course of the three day weekend – a tactic that’s is regarded by some in law enforcement as more effective that DUI checkpoints because motorists never know where officers are going to be located and they disperse resources rather than concentrate them – not a single person was cited for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs during that stretch. 

According to Manteca Traffic Unit Sergeant Paul Carmona, the saturation patrols were effective in finding motorists employing habits of speeding and aggressive driving – two of things that are often observed in people that are driving impaired – but everybody that was stopped, even those that were given secondary screening, came back clean. 

Such a result, he said, is a win because it shows that the public is aware that driving under the influence is both inherently dangerous and risky given the dedication of law enforcement to weed out those that practice it. 

“I think that people recognize that and we do a good job of getting the word out that we’ll be stepping up enforcement,” he sa id. “When the public knows in advance that we’ll be out there then they might think twice.”

The law enforcement efforts over the weekend were coordinated among not only the Manteca Police Department but also the California Highway Patrol and neighboring agencies hoping to keep people from climbing behind the wheel after a day of drinking. 

While the holiday’s placement – falling on a Friday this year – made it prime for families looking to get out of town for an extended weekend, the number of people that stayed home, as evident by the crowds at the Fourth of July parade and the fireworks show Friday night, was ample.