​Various Orange County communities are going to be crawling with extra cops this weekend as pre-Thanksgiving pushes are made to get drunks, druggies, the unlicensed and unsafe motorcyclists off the road and to ensure everyone is buckling up.

R. Scott Moxley blogged earlier today about the Orange County Sheriff's Department setting up DUI checkpoints in Stanton and Villa Park on Friday. The next night, the Garden Grove Police Department conducts one from 9 p.m. Saturday to 3 a.m. Sunday at the intersection of Harbor Boulevard and Quatro Street.
Besides targeting drivers who have been drinking alcohol, Garden Grove's finest will focus on those using illegal drugs or abusing prescription medication while driving, according to police Lt. Travis Whitman, who added driver license laws will also be strictly enforced. The same department on Wednesday launched a "Click It or Ticket" mobilization, which through Nov. 30 will have extra officers out to make sure anyone--driver, passenger or child--is properly buckled up. A state grant specifically aimed at Garden Grove is paying for the DUI checkpoint, while "Click It or Ticket" is made possible through state and federal funds.

Also on Saturday, the Costa Mesa Police Department conducts a specialized Motorcycle Safety Enforcement Operation, which is also funded by the state and feds. Extra officers will be on duty to patrol areas frequented by motorcyclists and where crashes occur. They will be cracking down on those speeding or impaired while riding.

With everyone hopefully having safely gotten to and from where they going on Thanksgiving, the Irvine Police Department will deploy officers and public safety assistants to the Market Place shopping center at the 5 freeway and Jamboree Road on "Black Friday" (Nov. 27) to help with holiday congestion, to deter and prevent shoplifting and to provide an extra safety component in the busy parking lots. The department's Mobile Command vehicle, which will be parked at the shopping center as a base of operations, will be open for visitors and questions from the public.

Meanwhile, teams of Irvine cops will also provide safety and security patrols at the Irvine Spectrum Center and neighborhood shopping centers throughout the city.