As New Years eve festivities kick in, police chiefs around the nation said they are concerned with the number of people driving while drunk, and note that Twitter has become a tool some use to warn their friends and followers of police checkpoints.

According to KPHO-TV, police in Phoenix say they are concerned with the power of Twitter to easily broadcast messages to their friends and families about sobriety checkpoints, which may help people to evade these checkpoints and let people drive drunk.

We go out of our way to tell people when we're doing enforcement efforts, said Sgt. Tommy Thompson of the Phoenix Police Department.

But Thompson said law enforcement officials worry the extra distractions are putting other motorists at risk. Behind the wheel under the influence of alcohol and a young person doing it -- it's a recipe for diaster, Thompson said.

Sgt. Dave Gibeault, the head of the traffic unit in Fresno, Calif., said that his own daughter has sent him text messages about where she's heard there is a checkpoint.

Twitter