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California Highway Patrol outlines recruitment push and enforcement goals for speeding, DUI and sideshows
Summary
CHP Commissioner Shaundry Duryea told the Senate committee that the agency is expanding recruitment, emphasizing visible patrols and data‑driven enforcement and setting targets on DUI enforcement, sideshow operations, gun seizures and fentanyl recoveries.
The California Highway Patrol told the Senate Transportation Committee that it is prioritizing recruitment and visible patrol to reduce collisions and reckless driving, and it described a slate of enforcement targets the agency expects to pursue over the coming two years.
"Our first and foremost...was to maximize in view patrol," Commissioner Shaundry Duryea said, adding: "Recruitment has been an issue...Currently, we have 3 cadet classes going at 1 time ... so right now, there's over 400 cadets in training in West Sacramento."
Duryea said the CHP will focus enforcement on the primary collision factors — speed, reckless driving, driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol, distracted driving and passenger restraints. He said CHP arrested more than 60,000 drivers for DUI in 2024 and is preparing specially marked patrol vehicles to target aggressive, high‑risk drivers.
The CHP also described program goals the commissioner presented to the committee: a plan for 60 major sideshow operations per year to reduce street racing and sideshows; a 5% increase in auto theft recoveries above last year's approximately 22,407 recoveries; a target to increase the number of crime guns seized from about 2,000 to 2,500 annually; and an ambitious goal for the CHP to recover 2,000 pounds of fentanyl over the next two years.
Duryea also said CHP plays multiple statewide roles beyond traffic enforcement, including statewide security assignments and disaster response. He described the agency’s field structure — nine field divisions, roughly 11,000 employees including about 7,500 sworn officers, and a fleet that includes patrol cars, motorcycles, airplanes and helicopters.
Ending: CHP told the committee it will expand visible enforcement and data‑driven deployments while continuing to assist local jurisdictions during large incidents and disasters; the agency asked lawmakers to support recruitment and resources to meet the stated targets.
