Costa Mesa police officers will soon be asking bar patrons if they want to take voluntary breathalyzer tests after city officials accepted a grant from the California Highway Patrol. 

It’s an effort officials say will help curb people from driving under the influence – with police officials saying the tests at bars are voluntary and are educational tools, not enforcement actions.

Police spokesperson Roxi Fyad explained that bar owners opt-in to the program, making the visit from officers possibly random to patrons, not owners. 

“We ask if they would like to do a ‘Know Your Limit’ event and have us there. We announce (the event) if we can. It’s not to enforce. It’s just for educational purposes,” Fyad said in an interview.

At the Sept. 1 city council meeting, council members voted unanimously to accept just over $92,000 from CHP’s Cannabis Tax Fund Grant Program to continue the police department’s targeted operations on DUIs. 

Costa Mesa isn’t the only Orange County city to accept the grant. 

According to a document from CHP, police officials in Fullerton, Huntington Beach, Orange, Irvine, Laguna Beach and Santa Ana – along with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department – will also receive a slice of the $41 million grant. 

This is Costa Mesa’s second time receiving the cannabis tax fund grant – being approved by the CHP based on the high prevalence of DUIs in the city, according to police officials. 

[Read: Costa Mesa Gears Up For More Breathalyzers at Bars]

According to officials, the grant will be supporting two targeted operations – the “Know Your Limit” program and police saturation patrols. 

Since the beginning of the year, the police department has been holding campaigns for the “Know Your Limit” program, where officers go into local bars and ask patrons if they think they’re in the safe and legal blood alcohol level to drive a car. 

Officers then give breathalyzer tests to people who volunteer to check if they’ve guessed right or wrong. 

Costa Mesa officers first collaborated with Huntington Beach’s “Know Your Limit” program before getting the cannabis tax grant the first time and starting a program of their own. 

“We did one with Huntington Beach to get a feel for it, and then when we got the grant, we did one on our own,” said Costa Mesa Police Department spokesperson Fyad.  

The first cannabis tax fund grant received helped to fund three “Know Your Limit” campaigns this year. 

The program works as a collaboration between local bars and the police department. 

Along with the program, officers will be conducting 40 DUI saturation patrols –  an operation that helps officers conduct DUI enforcement proactively, removing drivers under the influence from the road before a collision occurs.

Fyad said the patrol consists of officers in marked police units whose primary goal is to look for driving behaviors that could indicate alcohol or drug impairment.

In a Tuesday interview, Mayor John Stephens said he was in full support of accepting the grant, noting how the Costa Mesa PD has done well at keeping the city’s streets safe from intoxicated drivers. 

“Here is a situation where we’re gonna get some funding to reimburse us for some of the work that they (officers) are already doing in terms of checkpoints and things like that that we have throughout the year,” he said. 

However, when asked about whether or not he’s seen a positive change from programs such as “Know Your Limit,” Stephens said that he hasn’t. 

When asked if the Costa Mesa PD could be doing more to educate people on drug-related DUIs, Stephens said that he doesn’t know. 

“I don’t know anything that they could be doing differently, but they’re (officers) on the front lines and they’re always looking for ways to think creatively and innovatively to keep the community safer,” he said. 

Sara Leon is a Voice of OC Tracy Wood reporting fellow. You can reach her at sleon7903@gmail.com.