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Crime & Safety

'Ride Along' via Twitter for Friday Launch of 'Avoid the 13' DUI Crackdown

Palo Alto police chief and partner will live "tweet" from 8 p.m. Friday to 2 a.m. Saturday as they patrol the streets for impaired drivers. It's the kickoff for law enforcement's holiday campaign.

From the Palo Alto Police Department:

Palo Alto Police Chief Dennis Burns will be out to locate and arrest impaired drivers Friday night, and he will be bringing the public along on a “virtual ride-along” via Twitter as the Palo Alto Police Department kicks off its annual participation in the county-wide “Avoid the 13” DUI Crackdown.

Starting at 8 p.m. Friday, and running until at least 2 a.m., Burns will get behind the wheel of a DUI patrol car to target impaired drivers -- with a member of the Public Information Officer team riding along him and live-tweeting his activities on the department's Twitter account, @PaloAltoPolice.

The http://twubs.com/Balesmg publicizes combined DUI-enforcement efforts of the 13 police agencies in Santa Clara County in order to save lives, get impaired drivers off the road, and raise the public’s awareness of the tragic consequences of impaired driving.

This year’s “Avoid the 13” enforcement period starts at 12:01 a.m. on Dec. 13 and runs through 11:59 p.m. on Jan. 1.

Other California counties are hosting similar “Avoid” campaigns, and other Bay Area police agencies are also conducting their own Twitter “virtual ride-alongs” on Friday night.

Twitter users can follow the joint hashtag for the night of#BayAreaDUI and follow the San Mateo Police Department(@SanMateoPD), the Fremont Police Department(@FremontPD), and the Daly City Police Department(@DalyCityPD).

These agencies are all part of the Bay Area Law Enforcement Social Media Group (BALESMG), a group that meets regularly to discuss best practices for using social media as a way to engage their communities and to better leverage the technology for crisis communications.

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