Carlsbad police and the California Highway Patrol ran separate DUI checkpoints in the city on Friday, Sept. 4, capping a Labor Day enforcement push that has produced 5,572 impaired-driving arrests countywide so far in 2026.

The San Diego County Sheriff's Office released the year-to-date figure on Sept. 6. Sheriff's deputies accounted for 773 of those arrests. The totals do not include arrests made during the Labor Day holiday weekend, which ended Monday, Sept. 7.

Neither agency has released results from the Sept. 4 checkpoints.

Carlsbad officers logged 211 DUI arrests in the first half of 2026, according to the department's quarterly report. The breakdown: 113 in the first quarter and 98 in the second.

Both the Carlsbad Police Department and the CHP Oceanside Area staged their checkpoints at undisclosed locations within city limits on Sept. 4. Carlsbad officers also participated in the CHP operation, according to the North County Daily Star.

The CHP checkpoint honored two fallen officers. CHP Officer Sean Nava was struck and killed by an impaired driver on Oct. 28, 2000, while investigating a crash on Interstate 5 in Carlsbad. CHP Officer Stephen Linen was killed by an impaired driver on Aug. 12, 2001, during an enforcement stop on I-5 in Encinitas.

"Far too often, members of our community are senselessly injured or killed on our local roadways as a result of impaired driving," CHP Oceanside Area Captain Bradley Palmer said in a Sept. 3 announcement of the checkpoint. Palmer said the operation aimed to identify and remove impaired drivers from local roads.

The national "Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over" campaign, coordinated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), ran from Aug. 19 through Sept. 7, according to the Vista Press. Local agencies used the campaign window to increase patrols.

During Labor Day weekend 2025, 146 people were arrested countywide for DUI. Sheriff's deputies made 26 of those arrests. The Sheriff's Office cited that benchmark as it deployed extra patrols for the 2026 holiday.

The Carlsbad Police Department noted that impaired driving includes prescription medications, over-the-counter drugs and marijuana. Driving under the influence of marijuana remains illegal in California even though recreational use is legal.

A first-time DUI conviction carries an average of $13,500 in fines and penalties plus a suspended license, according to the Carlsbad Police Department. The Sheriff's Office put the broader cost of an arrest and conviction at more than $15,000 in legal and court fees.

Checkpoint results from the Sept. 4 operations may appear in the department's third-quarter report, expected in October.