SIERRA VISTA — The New  Year’s  holiday  weekend efforts of the Southeastern  Arizona  DUI  Task Force netted 240 traffic stops, three  DUI  arrests,  four  drug  arrests  and  six underage-drinking violations.

The detail was applied throughout  Cochise  County, involving 25 officers from the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office, the Sierra Vista Police Department, the Arizona Department of Public Safety and the Willcox Police Department.

A total of 63 citations were issued, 201 warnings were written, 10 designated drivers were observed, and 13 field-sobriety tests were administered.

Two of the three DUI arrests involved extreme DUI charges, which are given when someone has a measured blood alcohol content of 0.15 percent or greater.

Six seat belt violations were tallied during the detail, as well as 16 arrests listed in the Sheriff’s Office press release as “other arrests.”

No child-restraint violations were found.

In 2007, Southeastern Arizona  Task  Force  details comprised 9,468 traffic stops, 1,906 citations issued, 1,287 warnings written, 59 designated drivers observed, 143 field-sobriety tests administered, eight extreme DUI arrests, 20 drug arrests, 51 underage-alcohol violations, 153 seat belt violations, 19 child-restraint violations and 170 arrests listed as “other,” according to the Sheriff’s Office.

Statewide DUI task force efforts for the New Year’s detail that ended Monday night involved more than 2,800 DUI arrests, surpassing the 2006 New Year’s holiday tally of about 2,700 and the 2005 tally of about 2,400.

The state task force is coordinated by the Arizona Governor’s Office of Highway Safety.

Participating agencies statewide stopped nearly 37,000 drivers and issued more than 11,300 citations for driving offenses besides DUI.

Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever encourages continued driver responsibility in 2008, as there is new, stricter legislation regarding  drinking  and  driving,  for  the  safety  of Cochise County residents.

Task  force  details  will  be scheduled  throughout  2008.