Beginning tonight, the California Highway Patrol will  be deploying all available officers for a Christmas holiday weekend crackdown  on drunken drivers, speeders and other traffic violators.
      The CHP's "maximum enforcement period" will run from 6 p.m. today to  11:59 p.m. Tuesday.
      "The winter holidays can pose some of the toughest challenges for our  officers," said CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow.
      "Inclement weather, holiday celebrations and drivers in a hurry to get  to their destination can make for a deadly combination. We want you to enjoy  the season and remember that safety is a crucial element."
      During last year's Christmas MEP, the Riverside CHP office logged 23 DUI  arrests. One person was killed locally in a DUI-related collision. Statewide,  there were 980 arrests, and 14 people killed.
      The MEP coincides with the Riverside County Avoid the 30 task force's  end-of-year holiday crackdown, which got under way last Friday.
      The task force, named for the number of participating law enforcement  agencies, will be deploying saturation patrols and staffing sobriety  checkpoints through Jan. 1 to snare drunken or drug-impaired motorists.