Local DUI law enforcement yields positive results

For up to 1,200 yards, unambiguous sobriety checkpoint signs were perched alongside Terra Rejada Road and Miller Parkway in Moorpark, alerting drivers of what lay ahead. After all, the law requires drivers to be allowed a way out prior to entering the “no turning back” zone. Two police officers on motorcycles settled at the intersection, ready to detain anyone making an illegal getaway. As the night wore on, there were a few.

“We don’t get a lot of drunk drivers out of DUI checkpoints. What we do get is a lot of public awareness on drunk driving,” said Capt. Ronald Nelson, Moorpark’s chief of police, who has served in law enforcement for 24 years. “This is a big neon sign for the community, saying that we are here to combat drunk driving.”

Each verified driver was provided with a “DUI information” flier. If there was a license discrepancy or the driver was suspected of being under the influence, he or she was immediately removed from the car and carted off to the side for questioning. That night, 1,230 vehicles were screened, though there were no DUI arrests, and 29 drivers were cited for license violations.

To finance DUI checkpoints, Ventura County allocates $150,000 that it receives yearly from AVOID Anti-DUI Program, a national organization dedicated to DUI awareness that works with the California Office of Traffic Safety. With the aid of the grant, AVOID enables its 39 members to conduct checkpoints during “Maximum Enforcement Periods” throughout the year — winter holiday, summer/Labor Day, July Fourth weekend, Memorial Day weekend and any other high-activity days. Local law enforcement will run two AVOID-related DUI checkpoints throughout the county between Dec.16 and Jan.1.

“The flier and officer presence tend to help. People think twice before getting behind the wheel after a DUI checkpoint,” explained 18-year veteran Sgt. John Reilly of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department.

The Oxnard Police Department is the lead agency of AVOID-14 (there are 14 jurisdictions representing cities in the county) and manages the grant, which pays for the overtime of the police officers and the dispatcher working at the checkpoint.

In addition to the AVOID grant, Oxnard and Ventura police departments received funding from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS), due to their placement on California’s Top 50 DUI Cities list, which is based on the number of alcohol-related injuries and fatalities in a year. Oxnard ranked at No. 14 with a total of 153 DUI-related deaths and injuries in 2009, an improvement from 2008 when the city ranked No. 7 with 197. Ventura also made progress, moving from No. 39 in 2008 with a total of 75 DUI-related injuries and deaths to No. 47 with 82 injuries but no fatalities in 2009.

“Our goal is to reduce the number of DUI[-related] injuries and deaths and get a reduction from the previous year,” said Senior Officer Jamie Brown of the Oxnard Police Department. He said that he believes the most effective enforcement method is performing saturation patrols; six to eight officers are deployed to patrol for the sole purpose of finding drunk drivers.

Oxnard received $250,000, allowing the city to conduct saturation patrols, court stings, warrant and probation arrests that target DUI offenders. On the other hand, Ventura received $150,000, a much-needed grant for the department that does not currently have a DUI task force but, rather, uses officers from different divisions to participate in DUI enforcement. If Ventura is removed from the Top 50 DUI Cities list due to reduced alcohol-related driving incidents, it will no longer be a priority for funding from OTS.

“We depend greatly on the grant. We are severely understaffed. Officers are required to use overtime and it pays for those positions,” stated Sgt. Ryan Weeks of Ventura Police Department. “We would not be doing any of the extra DUI enforcement otherwise.”

Under California law, there are two types of DUI citations — driving a vehicle with a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 percent or more or being too impaired to operate a vehicle safely due to the use of alcohol or drugs, or both, regardless of blood alcohol level.

Both Oxnard and Ventura PD also use the OTS contribution to send officers for further training in grant management and DUI assessment, including field sobriety tests (FSTs). There are currently three standardized FSTs that are performed if an officer suspects a driver of DUI.

But some people say that the results of field sobriety tests can be unreliable.

“More often than not, the police do not administer the field sobriety tests correctly, and they are not going to tell you that those tests are entirely optional and voluntary,” said Ventura County DUI attorney Troy Slaten. “Even if the tests are given in the standardized fashion and are graded according to the criteria, they are about 80 percent accurate in determining whether or not someone is impaired for the purposes of driving.”

Regardless of how the tests are administered, drivers don’t have much of an option should they be pulled over on suspicion of DUI.

“It’s in the driver’s best interest to do the field sobriety tests, therefore, [so] an officer can determine that you’re OK to drive,” said Capt. Nelson. “If somebody refuses to do the FSTs, the officer has no choice but to make an arrest at that point, based on eye and breath observations only.”

But sobriety tests aren’t the only way for law enforcement to determine if a driver is under the influence. Breathalyzers have been regularly used in DUI stops and have resulted in thousands of arrests. Slaten said that breathalyzers can produce inaccurate readings, possibly resulting in unfounded arrests.

“There is scientific literature that says that while somebody is in the absorptive stage, breath testing overestimates your true blood alcohol by 20 percent or even higher. That means, these breath testing devices can give a falsely high reading when somebody is absorbing alcohol, and that can be very important on a close call,” Slaten stated.

By law, with or without performing the FSTs, a driver is required to submit to a blood or breath test upon the request of an officer.

When drivers are pulled over for any reason, Slaten said, there is a rarely exercised yet important detail to remember.

“You do have to provide license, insurance and registration, but the police don’t have to tell you that it’s your right to be silent when they question where you’re coming from, where you’re going, if you’ve had anything to drink and so on,” he explained. “It’s your Fifth Amendment right to remain silent. You never have to be a witness against yourself because as soon as you admit to drinking, you will be asked to step out of the vehicle; and if a police officer asks, you have to do it.”

In Ventura County, the minimum costs for a first-time DUI offender, without additional violations at the time of arrest, can total more than $10,000; County penalties and fees, mandatory alcohol school, DUI CHP traffic collision recovery fee, DMV fees, victim restitution fund, attorney and legal fees, ignition interlock device, vehicle tow and storage, increase in auto insurance and any other costs, depending on the severity of the situation.

A conviction for driving under the influence is “prior-able” for 10 years; it may be used to increase penalties during sentencing for any DUI-related crime committed in the decade following the initial arrest.

“When you’ve had a few drinks and are found to be under the legal limit, a DUI stop is a very good reminder that next time you go out, don’t drink and drive, or maybe bring a designated driver because getting arrested for a DUI can be scary and the effects can last for years,” said Senior Deputy John Stubblefield of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department. Throughout the county, restaurants and law enforcement are sponsoring designated driver programs, providing them raffles, giveaways and free nonalcoholic drinks.

DUI arrests may be unnerving for some, perhaps even unjustified for others, but related deaths and injuries continue to fuel Ventura County’s “14” fight toward awareness and enforcement. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recently announced California’s record low number of DUI fatalities in 2010, the most significant decrease in 14 years. This reduction is attributed mainly to the statewide increase in DUI checkpoints.