DENVER (KDVR) — Starting Thursday, Colorado drivers may see more patrols and DUI checkpoints on the road in January.
This is the first “Heat Is On” campaign of 2025, a year-round effort to increase patrols during some of the highest expected periods for impaired driving, especially toward national holidays and large public events.
The last enforcement period on New Year’s Eve weekend ended with 164 arrests across 81 participating agencies while the Colorado State Patrol reported 49 arrests.
Now, there’s another enforcement period.
From Jan. 9-22, the Colorado Department of Transportation said there will be more sobriety checkpoints, saturation patrols and additional law enforcement on duty as the Colorado State Patrol and over 70 local law enforcement agencies team up for the enforcement period.
This time last year, the department said the less than two-week period ended with 451 reported DUI arrests across the state.
That said, the department said traffic deaths involving impaired drivers hit the lowest level since 2019, with preliminary data showing there were 203 deaths on Colorado roads in 2024 that involved an impaired driver.
While this accounted for 30% of all traffic deaths during the year, according to the department, it’s an 11% decrease from the 227 in 2023.
“Despite so many sober alternatives, there were more than 14,000 DUI arrests in our state last year,” said Col. Matthew C. Packard, chief of the Colorado State Patrol. “Colorado law enforcement remains dedicated to removing impaired drivers from our roads.”
This is the first of many DUI enforcement periods throughout 2025. After this enforcement period ends, the next will begin on Super Bowl weekend from Feb. 6-12.
