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Walk this way |
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Monday, 19 April 2010 |
 Saline County Sheriff’s Detective Ron Parson, left, and Bryant Police Andy Goldthorpe ask two suspects to walk a straight line late Saturday night during a DWI checkpoint in Haskell. Several law enforcement agencies from around the county teamed up for the checkpoints, which occurred in Haskell and Bauxite.
Lt. Kevin Russell, public information officer for the Benton Police Department, said the multiple-agency, county-wide DWI checkpoint campaign kicked off on Saturday night/Sunday morning in preparation for prom season.
“May is the National Youth Safety month and with prom season just about here, we especially want to keep our youth safe,” he said. “National statistics show that more than 5000 traffic deaths are children 18 years of age and younger. We are hoping this campaign serves two purposes — to educate them about the dangers of drinking and driving, but if they do decide to do that, we will be out in full force and making arrests.”
More than 25 police officers from Bauxite, Benton, Bryant, Haskell police departments and the Saline County Sheriff’s Office participated in the weekend campaign. One of the sobriety checkpoints was in front of the Saline County Regional Solid Waste Management Facility on Sardis Road in Bauxite; the other was at U.S. 67 and Arkansas 229 in Haskell.
According to authorities, at the Bauxite location two people were cited for no valid vehicle insurance; two arrested for driving on suspended driver’s license; one arrested for driving with no driver’s license; one arrested for DWI drugs; one arrested for possession of a controlled substance; one arrested for possession of a controlled substance without a prescription; one cited for no child restraint and a one cited for failure to register vehicle.
At the Haskell location, there were eight citations for driving without valid insurance; four arrests for driving on a suspended driver’s license; three arrests for driving without a valid driver’s license; a citation for driving with expired vehicle license (tags); one DWI arrest; one DWI-drugs arrest; one public intoxication arrest; an arrest for an active warrant and a citation for possession of drug paraphernalia.
To help with the DWI checkpoints, Saline County got a visit from the “B.A.T. mobile” which stands for Blood Alcohol Testing vehicle. The large motorhome is fully equipped to serve as both a mobile command post for officers and an area to conduct field sobriety tests, drug recognition evaluations and to give blood-alcohol breath tests. The B.A.T mobile is provided by Black River Technical College in Pocahontas and the Law Enforcement Training Academy. B.A.T instructor Chris Hankins and his twelve-year-old son Zachary drove the B.A.T. mobile to Saline County.
Teresa Belew, executive director the Arkansas chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Drivers, participated in the DWI checkpoints for both moral support of the officers and for MADD research. She also provided desserts and refreshments.
“I thank you all so much for all you do,” Belew told officers. “You all make an impression on people at the DWI checkpoints. The effects aren’t just on those arrested, I believe the honest driver out there appreciates your effort to keep the roadways safe. And the word gets out that you guys don’t play when it comes to drunk driving in Saline County.”
Belew said that national statistics gathered by MADD, show that three in every 10 Americans will be involved in an alcohol-related crash at some time in their lives and, on average, a person is killed by a drunk driver every 40 minutes.
“We go into elementary schools all over now to talk to children about what to do if they are riding with an impaired driver — there is just something really sad about that,” Belew said.
“People are somewhat lackadaisical unfortunately about the efforts to stop drunk drivers. Surveys say that people drink and drive 87 times before being caught, and that is by their own admission on those surveys. Statistics also show that five people a week die in drunk-driving accidents. Forty percent of all traffic fatalities are drunk-driving-related.”
Belew added, “This effort is really about prevention and keeping our roadways safe, but a successful [DWI] checkpoint is no DWI arrests. This is a good proactive approach to catching drunk drivers. Not everyone will thank the officers working the checkpoints, but they ought to.”
Haskell Chief Mike Holt said drivers won’t know “when or where” the future checkpoints will be conducted. He warns against anyone thinking they can drive the “back roads” of the county to get away with drunk driving.
“With all the agencies working together, this makes all of Saline County our jurisdiction,” he said. “Some [drunk drivers] might think they can drive the back roads to get away from the law, but we’ll be there. We are all working together to make a better Saline [County].”
During the DWI enforcement campaign, all the county agencies said the will have extra patrol vehicles out looking specifically for drivers suspected of being impaired, whether it is from alcohol or drugs. According to Arkansas state law, it is illegal to drive with a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.08 grams per deciliter or higher. However, numerous officers are now trained drug recognition experts. Their training can help them determine if a person is under the influence of drugs, both prescription and non-prescription.
“Driving impaired is simply not worth all the consequences, so don’t take the chance, because too often, innocent, law-abiding people suffer tragic consequences and lose loved ones due to this careless disregard for human life,” Lt. J.W. Plouch of the Bryant Police Department said. “Our message is simple and unwavering. If we find you driving impaired, we will arrest you — no exceptions. Even if you beat the odds and walk away from an impaired-driving crash alive, motorists should be aware that the consequences of driving while impaired can still virtually destroy your life. We’ll be especially vigilant during high risk nighttime hours, when impaired drivers are most likely to be on our roads.”
“It isn’t that we don’t already look for drunk drivers on the roadways on a regular basis already,” Lt. Jerry Morrison with Saline County Sheriff’s Office said. “But with so many youths expected to be out on the roadways between prom time and when they are out of school for the summer, we are placing as much emphasize as possible on helping keep them safe and encouraging them not to drinking and driving. The young driver needs to know that all it takes is one drink to be impaired. Impaired driving is not just another traffic offense, it is a serious crime that often causes needless deaths and injuries. If you are over the limit, we will arrest and prosecute you. No exceptions, no excuses.”
Russell said officers volunteer to work the extra hours and are paid through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Selective Traffic Enforcement Program grant. The STEP grant provides overtime pay to staff increased enforcement in target areas. Russell said the grant can also be used for seat-belt initiatives.
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Razorbacks
