Many of you are off for the holidays and thus taking it easy. And by taking it easy, we mean drinking.

The police known this and this year they've already started their annual New Year's holiday DUI crackdown. In fact, the Los Angeles Police Department had a special drunk-driver patrol operation last night.

Cops are champing at the bit to put you behind bars if you're dumb enough to drive after one too many. Luckily, they're giving you a chance: Police say that by warning you about where they'll be during crackdowns, you'll think twice about driving while drunk. It could save lives.

Here's your tip sheet for the holiday:

-Tonight extra cops will hit the streets of Hawthorne for a DUI “saturation patrol.”

-Thursday saturation patrols will strike in Azusa, Bell Gardens, Irwindale, Pomona, San Gabriel, Santa Monica, West Hollywood and across the South Bay (El Segundo, Manhattan Beach, Hawthorne, Inglewood, Torrance, Redondo Beach), according to the Los Angeles County DUI Task Force.

-Friday — you're hung over; go home. And Happy New Year!

-Saturday from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. an LAPD checkpoint will be waiting for you at Roscoe Boulevard and Whitsett Avenue in the North Hollywood area.

-Saturday from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. a DUI checkpoint will be awaiting your arrival at Sunset Boulevard and Fountain Avenue in Silver Lake.

-Saturday a DUI saturation patrol will hit the streets of the North Hollywood area.

-Saturday a checkpoint will be running somewhere in the city of Hawthorne.

-Saturday DUI patrols will also strike in Arcadia, Whittier and the West San Fernando Valley.

-Sunday from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. a DUI saturation patrol will hit the streets of the LAPD's Northeast Division, which includes Los Feliz, Silver Lake, Eagle Rock, Highland Park, Frogtown and parts of Echo Park.

Be safe.

UPDATE at 5:15 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2015: We forgot to add that the Auto Club of Southern California is offering free tows for drivers only to their residences from 6 p.m. Thursday to 6 a.m. Friday. Here's the deal, according to an AAA statement:

The Auto Club encourages party-goers to plan ahead for a sober ride or use a designated driver if attending a gathering. But if those plans fall through, motorists, bartenders, restaurant managers, party hosts or passengers of a drinking driver may call 1-800-400-4AAA for a free tow home of up to seven miles. Callers simply tell the Auto Club operators, “I need a Tipsy Tow,” to receive the free tow and ride home. A regular Auto Club-contracted roadside service truck will be dispatched. The Auto Club’s free service is unique in that it transports both the driver and the vehicle.

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