Two checkpoints hit Newport-Mesa

Costa Mesa and Newport Beach police will conduct DUI checkpoints tonight.

From 6 to 11 p.m., Costa Mesa police will be stationed at Bear and Bristol streets, stopping cars to screen for drivers who are under the influence or don’t have a valid driver’s license.

At a checkpoint last month at the same location police arrested five people.

Newport Beach police will be stopping cars on northbound Jamboree Road at Santa Barbara Drive, right next to police headquarters, from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m.

Checkpoints are typically used to spread awareness of police enforcement and the dangers of drinking and driving, not to actually get many arrests, authorities said.

Both checkpoints are funded by state Office of Traffic Safety grants.

— Joseph Serna