Habitual Drunk Drivers

Did you ever wonder what police really do about drunken drivers? Do we just conduct Driving Under the Influence, or DUI, checkpoints as a source for the neighborhood to have entertainment for the evening? It actually is pretty funny, I'm not going to lie. Don't get me wrong, DUI checkpoints are worthy for the cause, but do they really do long term good for the community? What if your neighbor gets into his car every Friday night, already drunk for the evening. Is your police department responsive enough to sit at his house and wait for him to make his drunken move? When is he going to kill someone? What does it take to make a difference, a real difference, in the behavior of people who don't care if they drink and drive?

Could you be that person? Am I that person? I'm not sure, but I know of one motor cop on my department; he took an idea, formulated a plan, and executed that plan to make our city safer. Here's what happened. This motor officer realized that, to have a true impact, to really go after the source of DUI, you have to go to the root of the problem. This problem usually started at home, but of course, could start anywhere. This thirty-plus-year veteran of law enforcement stated his own unit, with one mission only... "to go after and arrest habitual drunk drivers." He even named the team "H2O" to give it a snazzy name.

Four years later, and almost 400 arrests in their books, their unit of 6 motor officers and a sergeant, has a 100% conviction rate. That's right, they have never lost a case. The unit has also spread to other parts of the city, as well as the state. Not to give away too many trade secrets, but these motor cops go to undercover surveillance school to learn how to blend in, and no, they are not always on their motorcycles. They utilize undercover cars and trucks to avoid suspicion.

They do have established criteria in order to investigate the driver. The suspects have to have a prior DUI, a suspended drivers license, and on probation. There are always exceptions to the rules, but for the most part, they have to have met the above criteria. I have, in the course of my investigations, discovered people who should have more oversight of their activities, and gave the H2O team their information. Would you believe that they have taken less than five minutes sitting in front of someone's house before the suspects show up, driving of course? According to the head motor cop for our area, only about 20% of the persons arrested are intoxicated, however, they are always violating their conditions of their probation or their suspended license by driving. Out of those arrested who are drunk, they are usually drunk at unusual times of the day, i.e. 8 in the morning before they are going to work, or 5 in the afternoon, as they are leaving work... Go figure.

One of their first cases was a man with a history of drunk driving arrests. He got into a collision with three other cars. He got out of his car, and in a drunken rage, started yelling and threatening one of the woman drivers, and her eight-year-old son. He threatened to kill them if they did not pay for the damages to his car. He told the boy that he would go to their house and kill them if they didn't do what he wanted from them. The H2O team was nearby and heard the radio call. They got to and assessed the scene, and discovered that he was intoxicated. The man was arrested for DUI, among other charges; he took the case to a jury trial.

The jury heard the testimony of the witnesses, as well as the boy. The boy cried on the witness stand, and told the jury that he still had nightmares about the man. There were injuries sustained from the collision that he caused and the jury convicted the man of not only felony DUI, but criminal threats as well. This person had a life long history of arrests with the police; he was sentenced to 25 years in prison. He is a perfect example of why the three strikes law is in place.

Another case is where the H2O team sat at a suspect's apartment complex and waited. When the suspect came home, driving, they stopped and arrested him for a probation violation, among other violations. The officers also asked him why he was driving, he replied, "What do you mean, I'm too drunk to walk!" After he got out of jail he told his apartment manager that he was moving because the police were following him. He thought that he was going to be sneaky by not telling the Department of Motor Vehicles that he moved. Very unlucky for him, his next apartment just happened to be next to the sergeant of the unit's apartment complex. While running one day, the sergeant observed the suspect driving the same car into the carport. The H2O team contacted the local law enforcement and the next day the suspect was back in jail.

The H2O team isn't just satisfied with getting DUI or suspended license arrests. They turn those arrests into probations violations, parole violations, and felony DUI's if they have three prior DUI arrests in the past ten years. I'm looking at one case from last year. The suspect was arrested for misdemeanor DUI, but because he had thirteen prior DUI's, they were able to arrest him for a felony. He has an unbelievable total of 245 arrests in his life. He was sentenced to five years state prison; that would have never happened if the H2O team didn't give this person a little special attention. The H2O team also sends people to jail for sex registration violations, and weapons violations, among others.

On average, most of these suspects are taking, as a plea deal, 240 days of jail for a suspended license violation. That is progress that would not have happened if these motor cops didn't have great coordination and cooperation with the prosecutors within the city and district attorney's offices.

The H2O team also sits out in front of the courts and wait for the people who just got their license suspended. If they get into their car to drive, they are immediately pulled over and arrested, no tickets given here. No better time than the present. A person arrested by or given a citation by a regular street cop for a suspended license is likely to get 10 days in jail, or if you are a celebrity, a free pass to the next Golden Globes. If the H2O team arrests you, your jail time will be a minimum of 40 days. In California, the car driven by the driver also gets impounded. The impound is for a term of thirty days. The fees are about $1,200.00 to get the car out of its own prison.

The H2O team is a perfect example of how our society, using its vast resources and a little brain power, can help combat a problem that has touched just about everyone in our great country. I'm personally sick of drunk drivers, and in my job, I get personal and professional satisfaction from filing charges on drunk drivers. Our detective section even file DUI charges on suspects in hit and run cases; this is without a field sobriety test, or a breathalyzer test to back up the sobriety test.

You, or someone you know, may still drink and drive. I just hope that there's an H2O team outside your house or work waiting, and waiting, for you to come by. Good luck in jail!!!! I hear the food, entertainment, and company you will keep are fantastic!