Berkeley police are about to use a $176,846 grant for a yearlong crackdown on drunken driving.

The grant was awarded by the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Police will use the money to set up DUI and driver’s license checkpoints and perform warrant searches and stakeouts for repeat DUI offenders. The effort will also include saturation patrols and court stings targeting DUI offenders with suspended or licenses who drive cars to court.

Police Chief Douglas Hambleton said the grant will allow officers to focus extra resources on impaired drivers and keep the city’s streets safe through traffic enforcement and education.

Officer Andrew Frankel said that between Oct. 1, 2006 and Sept. 30, 2007, 23 percent of drivers arrested for Dui were involved in collisions.
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