DRINK, DRIVE, DEAL WITH THE 'DEUCE' FORCE OUT TO CLEAR 1,300 DUIS FROM VALLEY STREETS.

Byline: Harrison Sheppard and Jason Kandel Staff Writers

Officer Angel ``Stealthman'' Cervantes reigns as king of the ``Deuces'' - the crack LAPD task force that has shattered records this year cracking down on drunk drivers in the San Fernando Valley.

Cervantes, involved in 190 of the 659 DUI arrests made by the Deuce Task Force, spends his time sitting at busy intersections studying drivers for the telltale signs of drunkenness - signs that he says show up even when drunk drivers tense up, with both hands clutching the steering wheel, in a textbook driving position.

``I like to sit at busy intersections and watch the cars and the drivers and their faces,'' said Cervantes, whose nickname is self-evident to those he catches. ``I watch them for a while to see if they are driving dangerously and then sneak up on them.''

The dozen officers in the Valley's Deuce Task Force are on pace to make a record number of arrests this year, having made 659 arrests in the first six months of this year, compared with 470 in the same period last year, a 38 percent increase.

They aim for a record 1,300 arrests, compared with 1,075 arrests last year. In May, the unit made 154 arrests, breaking its previous monthly record of 126.

``It's an outstanding team,'' said Tina Pasco, executive director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving's Los Angeles chapter. ``It's very serious, it's very aggressive, and they always fall within the top two or three awards given out.''

Los Angeles Police Department divisions across the city have the deuce units, which are named after the former California vehicle code for a drunk-driving offense, 502. The term has become so common that those who are frequently arrested have learned to say they were busted ``for a deuce.''

The Valley squad, which covers more territory than other LAPD deuce units, also has a reputation for being among the most gung-ho.

A sense of camaraderie - which includes watching ``Monday Night Football'' together in the fall and nicknames for many of the officers - and a disdain for drunk driving drives the group.

``We all come from a lot of different backgrounds,'' Cervantes said. ``The common denominators are that we all don't like drunk driving. We all have families. We've all seen the results of drunk drivers in the way of fatalities, major injuries and the maiming of people who had nothing to do with it.''

Citywide, there were 11,302 arrests last year for driving under the influence - but that figure includes arrests by regular patrol officers and detectives beyond the specialized task forces.

Officers in the squad said their efforts are particularly important this time of year, when drunk driving becomes more prevalent thanks to outdoor parties, vacation time and summer break for colleges and high schools.

``The whole outdoor scene when it warms up seems to, for some reason, revolve around alcohol,'' said Sgt. Michael Harrington, who heads the unit. ``That's whether we're talking about people going to bars or people going to barbecues. Our numbers just seem to increase.''

Last year through the end of June there were 491 collisions involving drunk drivers in the Valley; this year there were 477.

There have also been at least five DUI crashes involving fatalities this year in the Valley, including two within the last three weeks.

On July 9, a 30-year-old woman died after an intoxicated man showing off his new BMW to some friends slammed into her Nissan Sentra at 105 mph on Sepulveda Boulevard, according to Detective Jim Mann of the Valley Traffic Division. Officials are pursuing murder charges against the driver.

On June 30, a woman died in Pacoima after a drunk driver hit her car broadside while fleeing the scene of a minor collision. That driver has been charged with manslaughter.

``The problem is that innocent victims are very often caught up when a drunk driver goes through a red light or is speeding and plows into somebody,'' said Capt. Greg Meyer of Valley Traffic.

Harrington said one reason the group has been improving its efforts is that its members have become more experienced; typically the deuce squad is the least popular choice for traffic cops because its most important shifts are weekend nights. Members tend to rotate frequently, but this Valley squad has mostly stayed together for a few years, Harrington said.

The unit includes 10 motorcycle cops and a supervisor, and earlier this year it added a cruiser dedicated to transporting prisoners, rather than having the motorcycle units wait for the nearest available black-and-white.

The squad typically picks a particular area of the Valley to work on a given night, checking with the crime statistics unit and vice squad to see where the problem is most prevalent.

Pasco and Harrington credited Meyer's support, saying captains in other traffic divisions tend to pull officers from the deuce squad for other duties, such as regular traffic enforcement, while he tries to keep them together and emphasizes their importance.

``I think that in the traffic enforcement business nationwide, driving under the influence is always a priority, because it's historically been shown to be such a large producer of accidents, including serious injuries and fatalities,'' Meyer said.

``Even though the problem has been reduced quite a bit from back in the mid-1980s, we still have a very serious problem out there.''

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3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- 2 -- color) LAPD Officer Chris Cortijo gives a motorist a field sobriety test, above, in Pacoima. Below, a DUI suspect waits to be processed in Van Nuys.

(3 -- color) A breath analysis shows a drunk-driving suspect's blood-alcohol level at the Foothill Division.

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer