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Irregular News for 05.02.06
Charleston, SC -- Police knew there was a problem with drinking and driving during happy hour.
But they never imagined their daytime sobriety checkpoint would net four drunken driving arrests before 8:30 p.m. Friday.
Police conducted the happy hour sobriety checkpoint in the 2600 block of Kanawha Boulevard near the Moose Lodge from 4 to 9 p.m., the first such checkpoint in Charleston, they said.
The department issued 32 traffic citations and arrested a fifth person for driving on a revoked license for a previous DUI.
Two people arrested for drunken driving attempted illegal U-turns before arriving at the checkpoints, but were quickly stopped by police, said Cpl. Shawn Williams of the Charleston Police Department.
The first drunken driving arrest was made just 20 minutes into the checkpoint.
"This confirms our initial beliefs that there is a problem," Williams said. "I knew the possibility was there just because there's a lot more traffic, but I was utterly amazed at the fact we arrested five people before dark."
Police initially planned to continue the checkpoint until midnight, but the surprising number of arrests stretched their 12-officer patrol thin, forcing them to close early.
Police decided to conduct the daytime checkpoint after they noticed a nationwide trend of more people driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol during the day.
Williams organized the checkpoint after attending a planning meeting in Flatwoods two weeks ago that discussed the relatively new concept.
"We're finding drunks are out there at all times of the day, and we're trying to attack it strategically," Williams said.
Department officials said last week they would evaluate the checkpoint's success and decide later if it should be continued during the daytime.
"There's really not much to review at this point," Williams said today. He and Lt. Jerry Hill said they are already discussing another daylight checkpoint this Friday.
"As we said, drinking and driving is not unique to night," Hill said. "But I guess there was much more of a problem.
"We weren't really sure what kind of problem we would see. We've had some (checkpoints) where we went six hours and made zero arrests. Occasionally we'll get two or three."
Police statistics from across the state show that sobriety checkpoints on average produce fewer than one drunken driving arrest per checkpoint.
Charleston police Sgt. Eric Eagle said law enforcement agencies from across the state conducted 137 checkpoints in 2005, resulting in 118 drunken driving arrests. According to those statistics, an average of 500 drivers pass through each checkpoint.
Police say checkpoints aren't designed to necessarily pull intoxicated drivers off the road, but rather to deter people from driving drunk in the first place.
Far more common on Friday were citations for other traffic offenses.
Williams said the early part of Friday's checkpoints would focus on educating people on drunk driving and also seatbelt use.
"It goes with the same old checkpoint philosophy," Williams said. "This is just a new idea and approach."
source
Charleston, SC -- Police knew there was a problem with drinking and driving during happy hour.
But they never imagined their daytime sobriety checkpoint would net four drunken driving arrests before 8:30 p.m. Friday.
Police conducted the happy hour sobriety checkpoint in the 2600 block of Kanawha Boulevard near the Moose Lodge from 4 to 9 p.m., the first such checkpoint in Charleston, they said.
The department issued 32 traffic citations and arrested a fifth person for driving on a revoked license for a previous DUI.
Two people arrested for drunken driving attempted illegal U-turns before arriving at the checkpoints, but were quickly stopped by police, said Cpl. Shawn Williams of the Charleston Police Department.
The first drunken driving arrest was made just 20 minutes into the checkpoint.
"This confirms our initial beliefs that there is a problem," Williams said. "I knew the possibility was there just because there's a lot more traffic, but I was utterly amazed at the fact we arrested five people before dark."
Police initially planned to continue the checkpoint until midnight, but the surprising number of arrests stretched their 12-officer patrol thin, forcing them to close early.
Police decided to conduct the daytime checkpoint after they noticed a nationwide trend of more people driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol during the day.
Williams organized the checkpoint after attending a planning meeting in Flatwoods two weeks ago that discussed the relatively new concept.
"We're finding drunks are out there at all times of the day, and we're trying to attack it strategically," Williams said.
Department officials said last week they would evaluate the checkpoint's success and decide later if it should be continued during the daytime.
"There's really not much to review at this point," Williams said today. He and Lt. Jerry Hill said they are already discussing another daylight checkpoint this Friday.
"As we said, drinking and driving is not unique to night," Hill said. "But I guess there was much more of a problem.
"We weren't really sure what kind of problem we would see. We've had some (checkpoints) where we went six hours and made zero arrests. Occasionally we'll get two or three."
Police statistics from across the state show that sobriety checkpoints on average produce fewer than one drunken driving arrest per checkpoint.
Charleston police Sgt. Eric Eagle said law enforcement agencies from across the state conducted 137 checkpoints in 2005, resulting in 118 drunken driving arrests. According to those statistics, an average of 500 drivers pass through each checkpoint.
Police say checkpoints aren't designed to necessarily pull intoxicated drivers off the road, but rather to deter people from driving drunk in the first place.
Far more common on Friday were citations for other traffic offenses.
Williams said the early part of Friday's checkpoints would focus on educating people on drunk driving and also seatbelt use.
"It goes with the same old checkpoint philosophy," Williams said. "This is just a new idea and approach."
source