Law enforcement participation is essential in removing impaired drivers from community streets. Increasing law enforcement patrol activity will reduce the number of drivers who drive under the influence of alcohol or other drugs and ultimately decrease the number of traffic crashes and fatalities caused by these impaired drivers. The reduction is principally attributed to two factors: increased law enforcement visibility creates a perception of risk by drivers who may drive while impaired, and extra law enforcement personnel increase the probability of being detected and arrested.

At a time when most police and sheriffs’ agencies are hampered by budgetary constraints, no law enforcement agency has the luxury of having sufficient personnel “to be everywhere at once.” The demand placed on the law enforcement community today is unprecedented. This is why individuals and communities are being asked to take a stand against impaired driving and other dangerous traffic safety violations. Law enforcement needs the help of individual citizens to get involved in the community. If your community lacks a Safe Communities program or a Neighborhood and Crime Watch program, contact your local law enforcement agency and ask for help in starting these efforts. Active community programs are valuable in providing additional “patrolling eyes and ears” for law enforcement agencies.

To discuss increasing enforcement opportunities during National Holiday Lifesavers Weekend (December 18-20, 1998), arrange to meet with local law enforcement agency representatives in early November. Most police chiefs and sheriffs are members of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) or the National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA). Ask if they have received the information packet about the national program. Encourage them to contact state agencies and their associations to discuss ways to develop multi-jurisdictional enforcement activities. Urge them to support anti-impaired pedestrian and motorcycle operator activities. The following ideas are included in the information packet sent to IACP and NSA members. Consider them as you begin planning 3D Prevention Month and year-round events and make law enforcement part of your Safe Community.

Ideas for 3D Prevention Month and Year-Round Activities

• Solicit the support and participation of all the law enforcement agencies within the community (municipal police departments, county sheriffs’ officers, and state police and highway patrols).

• Ask agencies to maximize the deployment of traffic enforcement patrols, thereby increasing enforcement efforts and visibility.

• Emphasize public service and roadside assistance to the motoring public.

• Actively enforce safety belt and child safety seat laws.

• Monitor and enforce speed limits on all roadways, including local streets.

• Promote media coverage of projects enhancing public awareness.

Remind participating members to look for the packet, and urge them to participate to the fullest extent possible. Contact the Governor’s Highway Safety Office to obtain additional information or check the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) Web site (www.nhtsa.dot.gov).

Study Identifies DWI Enforcement Loopholes

Many people who drive with blood alcohol concentrations (BAC) above the legal limit often go undetected or unpunished. NHTSA sponsored a study to identify loopholes in the driving while intoxicated (DWI) enforcement system to identify where and how these individuals slip through the cracks in the criminal justice system and to recommend potential solutions to close these loopholes.

Mid-American Research Institute of Winchester, Massachusetts talked to law enforcement officers and prosecutors from several places across the country to get an overview of current impaired driving law enforcement methods and problems. Next they conducted case studies in three jurisdictions: Scottsdale, Arizona; Rockdale County, Georgia; and Palm Beach County, Florida to document various enforcement strategies and to see, first-hand, the problems that officers, prosecutors, judges, and others face in processing DWI offenders. The study examined the DWI enforcement process from on-road detection through the arrest process, to court proceedings and sanctioning.

The good news is that impaired driving law enforcement is working quite well in some places and is functioning at acceptable, if not optimal levels, in most jurisdictions.

The study identified a total of 28 significant problems in enforcing DWI laws and traced these to their most common causes. These problems degrade the ability of law enforcement to find impaired suspects, confirm their impairment, and process suspects more quickly. The problems also diminish the ability of prosecutors both to charge and to obtain convictions, and the ability of judges to impose appropriate sanctions on persons convicted of DWI. The following is a sample of the 28 areas that could be improved.

Loopholes
Law enforcement officers doing other tasks
The greatest improvement in impaired driving law enforcement in most jurisdictions may well be realized by increasing the percentage of a patrol officer’s time spent looking for and interdicting DWI suspects.

Defendants who don’t show up at hearings
The failure of defendants to appear at adjudicative hearings can have a large negative impact on system performance. The extent of this problem nationwide is not known, but this research suggests that it could be widespread.

Adjudication takes too long
The time required to adjudicate DWI cases is excessive in many jurisdictions, often stretching out for months and, sometimes, for years. This dilutes a basic tenet of deterrence theory where swift and sure punishment deters future improper behaviors.

Administrative adjudication brings new problems
A series of unexpected problems is occurring with administrative adjudication. These include excessive demands on a law enforcement officer’s time to appear at administrative hearings; procedures that require officers to file a written request for continuance if they are unable to be at a hearing; laws that prohibit a prosecutor from appearing at a hearing (placing the law enforcement officer in the role of prosecutor); hearing officers who allow non-pertinent issues to enter the discussion; and hearing officers who lack knowledge of the law, how alcohol impairment affects driving performance, techniques used to determine impairment, or some combination of these. These problems are causing law enforcement officers in some jurisdictions to avoid the process.

Judges need more information
Judges need more information about offender characteristics and sanctioning alternatives to develop effective sentencing packages.

Need for public support for DWI enforcement
Public support for DWI law enforcement is critical to keeping law enforcement officers detecting and arresting impaired drivers, prosecutors pressing charges, and judges imposing sanctions. Public support delivers the message that this is important work.

Processing lower BAC limits
Laws lowering the BAC limit to .08 have had little effect on enforcement and adjudication agencies. They use the same procedures as with other BAC levels. There may be some problems, however, in processing juveniles suspected of violating zero tolerance laws, particularly in transporting and holding these suspects.

Possible Solutions to the Loopholes
For each of the 28 areas that could be improved, there are recommendations that might help fix the loopholes. These include:

• Expand training programs for law enforcement officers, prosecutors, judges, and administrative hearing officers.

• Develop new or modified procedures to catch, process, adjudicate, and sanction DWI offenders.

• Use additional equipment, facilities, and personnel to help enforcement agencies.

• Use additional funding to support the operation of these agencies.

• Adopt new or modified laws on the conduct of criminal and administrative adjudication proceedings.

• Focus public information programs to gain support of the operation of DWI enforcement agencies.

NHTSA is conducting a follow-on project to implement some of the suggested improvements and to determine their effectiveness.

Successful Program: Utah Highway Patrol

The Utah Highway Patrol has significantly increased its impaired driver monitoring capabilities by teaching the public how to recognize, detect, and report impaired drivers. Recognizing the potential in ‘deputizing’ drivers with cellular phones, the highway patrol advertised an impaired driver detection class for citizens aged 18 and over in the newspaper and on the radio. The class ran for approximately 2 hours and included police stories, a viewing of a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) video, information on how to contact the local police, and safety tips for dealing with impaired drivers. Notifying the police from a cellular phone is toll free in most cases, and the caller is advised on how to proceed until law enforcement arrives. The Utah Highway Patrol received many calls that were helpful in apprehending impaired drivers. They expect to see an increase in both class attendance and reporting next year.

For more information, contact:

Trooper Terry C. Smith

Public Information and Education Officer

Utah Highway Patrol

Section 10

835 East 300 North

Suite 600

Richfield, UT 84701

Phone: (435) 896-2780