The number of arrests due to driving while impaired has decreased consistently. But every holiday, law enforcement continues to spend thousands of dollars in resources during holidays.
Every year in America, friends and family gather across the country to celebrate the holidays. From the Fourth of July to Memorial Day, to New Years Day.
Our BBQ’s are fired up and the potato salad is made. The beer is put on ice. We look forward to spending quality time with those we love.
And as we plan our time with family and friends, law enforcement is planning their own event. They plan for their DUI patrols.
They plan their unconstitutional DUI “Safety” Checkpoints. The Supreme Court has ruled them legal although Americans should not have to have police contact unless they are suspected of committing a crime.
Gilbert, Arizona Police DUI Enforcement Vehicle
They bring out their big trucks that speeds up the processing of drunk drivers. They make their presence known by loitering in a parking lot full of their resources.
City of Phoenix Police Motorcycle Officers
Motorcycle officers are on scene who are trained to conduct field sobriety tests. They flood the area and pull over as many vehicles as possible. They use excuses such as no license plate light to pull a vehicle over. But their intent is to find a driver who has had too much to drink.
But as law enforcement continues to spend millions of dollars each year in their DUI enforcement over the holidays, and the number of vehicles they pull over increases, the number of people arrested for driving impaired has consistently decreased over the last three decades.
Statistics from several different sources show that the number of drivers being arrested for DUI has decreased across the board. With the number of police officers patrolling the streets during holiday weekends, one would believe arrests would increase.
So why does law enforcement still spend all the money, gather all the resources and spend night after night looking for something that does not exist as much? Why wouldn’t they focus their attention to a different area of law enforcement?
It is because of the revenue that is generated. While the number of arrests have gone down, the number of tickets written for no insurance or no registration has gone up. An investigation by the Investigative Reporting Program at UC Berkeley found that impounds at checkpoints in 2009 generated an estimated $40 million in towing fees and police fines—revenue that cities divide with towing firms. Additionally, police officers received about $30 million in overtime pay for the DUI crackdowns, funded by the California Office of Traffic Safety.
Follow Brent McAllister on Twitter at: copblockbrent