NHTSA/NCJA Criminal Justice Summit on Impaired Driving

Solutions for the Enforcement Phase

The TIRF study DWI System Improvements for Dealing with Hard Core Drinking Drivers: Enforcement, was used as a springboard for the workgroups' discussions on  the handling of impaired drivers at the enforcement phase. The research findings were based on information taken primarily from law enforcement professionals.

Research Identified Problems and Solutions (TIRF, 2001)

Priority Areas

Five priority areas were identified by the multidisciplinary work groups including leadership and community relations, paperwork reduction and information sharing, training, improved detection, and resources. The law enforcement professionals in particular selected several actions to be taken to improve the enforcement process and many recommendations require the involvement, assistance, and participation of other criminal justice professionals.

What Works in DWI Enforcement During her address, Marilena Amoni, NHTSA Associate Administrator, Office of Program Development and Delivery, outlined a number of "focused countermeasures" that through research, NHTSA has determined work.  They include: Strong laws – research has proven that .08 BAC laws, minimum drinking age, administrative license revocation, and primary seat belt laws are effective in saving lives. High visibility enforcement – research also has shown (i.e. Checkpoint Tennessee) that weekly, publicized sobriety checkpoints can reduce alcohol-related fatalities by as much as 20 percent. Strong sanctions have been proven to reduce recidivism. Activism by groups such as MADD, SADD, RID, and the National Commission Against Drunk Driving has changed the public's perception over the years and has helped to pass hundreds of state DWI laws. Changing social norms through education and campaigns has changed attitudes so that it is socially unacceptable to drive impaired.  This is the cornerstone of the NHTSA media messaging in "Friends Don't Let Friends Drive Drunk." NHTSA's objectives for DWI enforcement in 2003 are as follows: Build momentum in calendar year 2003 to move alcohol-related fatality rates. Increase highly publicized enforcement. Recreate the rage about deaths and injuries caused by these criminal acts. Increase the role of the prosecutors' office in this effort. Create the perception that impaired drivers (from alcohol and/or drugs) will be detected and punished.

Leadership and Community Relations

Priorities for enforcement have shifted to other crimes and leadership is needed to redirect resources to DWI. Support for DWI enforcement must come from law enforcement executives. In turn, upper law enforcement management should solicit their governors to make the issue a priority. A number of steps aimed at educating and raising awareness in communities that DWI remains a problem can be taken, including developing collaborations with the media and victims' rights groups, and soliciting support from prosecutors and other criminal justice practitioners.

Recommended Actions

• Develop task forces to lead coalitions.
• Meet with and solicit support from state attorneys general and governors' offices.
• Appoint specific DWI-assigned prosecutors to coordinate efforts by prosecutors to raise awareness of the problems and solutions.
• Approach state highway safety offices and law enforcement organizations for resource support.
• Develop more dynamic public service announcements that reflect the actual number of people that are affected by DWI offenders.
• Target children in schools (youth of pre-drinking age) to educate them on the dangers of drinking and driving.

Paperwork and information Sharing

Some general recommendations for solutions to enforcement problems related to paperwork include streamlining and simplifying paperwork without omitting the details needed to prosecute offenders. Forms should be standardized and uniform across states. Use of technology such as hand held devices, in-car videos, and computers should be increased so that subpoenas, citations, reports and other information can be filed electronically to increase accuracy, save time and reduce errors. Technology integration is necessary to speed information sharing between agencies, for example, between law enforcement agencies and motor vehicles departments where records are updated.

 Recommended Actions

• Encourage states and tribes to enact laws to standardize and streamline forms.
• At the local level, key law enforcement personnel should meet to discuss how paperwork and information sharing could be improved, including financial and non-financial resources available, computer hardware and software, and procedures and protocol.
• Develop and disseminate research identified best practices from states that have successfully streamlined paperwork.
• Provide funding for technology to streamline and simplify paperwork.
• Solicit support from national leaders to reduce paperwork.

Training

Increased training is crucial to improving several system challenges, including the detection of hard core drinking drivers, inadequate testimony on the part of officers, and incomplete evidence collection. Increasing the hours of training on DWI enforcement was strongly recommended. At least 40 hours at the academy level was recommended as critical. In addition, officers should be required to update or refresh their training annually. The content of training should include in-depth training on the standardized field sobriety tests (SFST), including correct usage of the horizontal gaze nystagmus (HGN) test, alcohol tolerance and how to recognize the subtle signs of impairment, basics of state statutes and laws, and how to provide accurate testimony.  Training should involve other disciplines. Prosecutors can help law enforcement better understand complex DWI laws, how to build a case and distinguish between probable cause and reasonable doubt. Toxicologists can help provide advanced training on drug toxicology. Victim groups can provide education on the impact on victims and families.  Public defenders can provide assistance in training on courtroom testimony, in particular on how to handle cross-examinations. Training materials should be reviewed by multiple disciplines that can be involved in delivering the training as well.

Recommended Actions

• Identify a contact person or key stakeholders from the International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training (IADLEST) who can assist in making DWI training mandatory.
• Approach state highway safety offices and encourage them to require DWI training for all their law enforcement grant recipients prior to receiving funds.
• Work through departmental command structures to establish a coalition with the state's Police Officers' Standards and Training (POST) council to make these solutions requirements.
• Solicit state law enforcement associations to gain state support for quality DWI training.
• Encourage, as public officials, collaborative efforts between prosecutors and the law enforcement community so that they work together to provide strategies for training.
• Seek funding from other governmental agencies, not just state highway safety offices, such as state criminal justice and public safety agencies as well as private foundations.

Detection

Detection of impaired drivers, particularly those who have learned to circumvent the system, can be greatly improved by increased training of officers, greater use of sobriety checkpoints and a number of legislative actions. 

Recommended Actions

• Make greater use of Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) programs.
• Ensure that all officers are trained in all aspects of DWI enforcement.
• Encourage states and tribes to enact laws that:
• Allow for DWI checkpoints.
• Allow HGN as evidence.
• Make test refusal a per se crime.
• Make DWI referrals to the medical community.
• Increase staffing in traffic units.

Resources

Considering the nationwide fiscal constraints, finding creative new ways of establishing funding and resources for DWI enforcement is necessary. First, however, the issue must be made a priority to maximize funding opportunities.

Recommended Actions

• Require cost recovery from DWI defendants, for example, requiring repeat offenders to pay a fine as a condition of probation and charging offenders for testing.
• Seek opportunities to blend funding from various federal funding streams to help meet system needs.
• Identify ways to reach smaller departments to help fund their training, such as web-based and CD-ROM learning.
• Resolve competing overtime issues as more officers are being assigned to protective details as part of counter-terrorism efforts.
• Be realistic with budgets, for example, many law enforcement agencies do not budget for court time.
• Provide funding for toxicology labs and use toxicologists more.
• Identify best practices to maximize use of funds.

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