The Gaslamp was buzzing with taxis, pedicabs, thousands of New Year’s revelers and a lot of police Sunday evening. As with celebrations across the world, security was tight downtown, and San Diego Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman wanted to wish everyone a happy 2018.
“On behalf of everybody at the San Diego Police Department, we want to wish everybody a very happy and safe New Year’s Eve,” she told NBC 7. “Everything is going great down here at the Gaslamp. You can see a lot of people are in a great mood. We have a lot of resources out here. You see a lot of police officers in uniform. We have a lot of police officers, quite frankly, that are up on the rooftops watching the crowd and making sure that it’s safe for everyone, officers that are on foot, officers that are on bicycles and vehicles. And it’s all to make sure everybody has a safe and fun time out here for New Year’s.”
She also made it clear that drinking and driving won’t be tolerated.
“We ask everybody, please do not be in any way shape or form impaired and drive. Buzzed driving is drunk driving and we don’t want anybody to get into an accident. It’s just not worth it. Have a plan in place right now. We have zero tolerance, maximum enforcement. We are looking for DUIs and that includes not just alcohol, but also those that are using drugs.”
Across the state, more than 200 people have been arrested for DUI.
