BRIEFLY IN THE NEWS Officers honored for...

BRIEFLY IN

THE NEWS

Officers honored for keeping roads sober

Costa Mesa police officers walked away with seven out of 14 awards

handed out by the Orange County chapter of Mothers Against Drunk

Driving.

The organization honored officers who arrested the most drunk

drivers. Fourteen officers countywide were recognized at a luncheon

last week for arresting 100 or more drunk drivers.

Costa Mesa officers Chris Walk, Chris Bates, Bryan Wadkins, Jose

Torres, Dan Miles, Mike Manson and Frank Christian received awards

for making 100 or more arrests.

What’s noteworthy is that these officers made the arrests in only

three months. Costa Mesa traffic officers work on the DUI team in

three-month rotations.

“Unfortunately, our city has a high number of drunk drivers,” said

Costa Mesa Police Lt. Karl Schuler, who is also the state chair for

MADD.

That is because of neighboring beach cities where people come to

party as well as the number of bars and restaurants in Costa Mesa, he

said.

Four Newport Beach police officers -- William Depwig, Matt

Keyworth, Damon Psaros and Gerry White -- were also recognized at the

luncheon. These officers made between 25 and 63 arrests each.