I wonder if law enforcement gets calls about sex offender concerns and keeps track of them? Calls not related to drunk driving, just calls about sex offenders, if they do it would be interesting to know what types of calls (complaints) they get tabulated similar to these statistics.
7-4-2008 New Mexico:
SANTA FE -- State officials say it would be a "wake-up call" to send warning letters to the owners of automobiles that were reported to the state's drunken driving hot line but whose drivers were never arrested. The American Civil Liberties Union has another term: "vigilantism."
George Bach, staff attorney for the ACLU of New Mexico, said sending letters to the owners of autos reported to the DrunkBuster's hot line could lead to government scrutiny of innocent people, the Albuquerque Journal reported Thursday in a copyright story.
"This is basically state-sponsored vigilantism," he said.
About 16,000 calls were made to the hot line last year to report possible drunken drivers. Almost 890 motorists were stopped by police and about 200 arrests were made for drunken driving because of the calls. ..News Source.. by ElPaso Times
Letters going to people reported by DWI hot line
7-1-2008 New Mexico:
SANTA FE—New Mexico wants to deliver what state officials describe as a "wake up call" to motorists who may drink and drive but haven't gotten caught.
Starting this week, the state will send letters to the owners of automobiles reported to New Mexico's DrunkBuster's anti-DWI hot line. The letters will tell people their vehicles were allegedly being driven erratically or in an unsafe manner.
"It's no longer just law enforcement that are looking out for drunk drivers. It's citizens that are looking out for drunk drivers. That perception is really important in continuing to work to reduce DWI in New Mexico," Rachel O'Connor, the state's DWI czar, said Tuesday.
Last year, about 16,000 calls were made to the telephone hot line to report possible drunken drivers. Almost 890 motorists were stopped by police and about 200 arrests were made for drunken driving because of the calls. She said six wrong-way drivers also were stopped by calls.
The letters will tell people the time, date and location when their vehicle was reported to the drunken driving hot line.
"It's a courtesy letter—maybe a wake-up call for some of those drivers," said Faron Segotta, chief of the state police.
Gov. Bill Richardson and other officials also announced that a "superblitz" against drunken driving will be conducted by law enforcement during the July Fourth holiday and the state will airing a new television and radio advertisement to discourage drinking and driving.
"I am confident that these new initiatives will make people think twice before drinking and driving on our highways," said Richardson.
Alcohol-related traffic deaths have dropped sharply through the first half of the year, declining almost 40 percent from last year, according to preliminary figures released by O'Connor.
She attributed the decline to the "collective buzz" of programs and laws against drunken driving, which range from tougher penalties and greater enforcement to ignition interlocks for offenders. "It's never just one thing," said O'Connor. ..News Source.. by BARRY MASSEY
July 4, 2008
OFF TOPIC- DWI hot-line letters are 'vigilantism,' group says
May 13, 2008
MI- SHOCK: Magistrate Tells Man to Kill Himself
5-13-2008 Michigan
(WXYZ) - Court officials in Novi say a magistrate “could have chosen better words” when she told a man convicted of drunk driving and other offenses that he should commit suicide by jumping to his death or slitting his wrists in a bathtub.
52nd District Court Magistrate Judith Holtz made the shocking statements during a hearing on April 10 as she was sentencing 20-year-old Michael Robert Dickey on a charge of Minor in Possession of alcohol. Dickey had two prior convictions for drunk driving and, according to the court, “had failed to comply with his bond conditions to remain drug and alcohol free.”
According to court transcripts obtained by WXYZ, Dickey admitted to Holtz that he’d “made a lot of mistakes” -- and that’s when she unleashed from the bench.
“I don’t mean to be offensive, but you have two Operating While Intoxicated convictions and then you blow a .223 and you’re still not twenty one?, Holtz said.
“Here is my suggestion to you, Mr. Dickey, climb up on the roof of your house and jump off; either that or get in a bathtub filled with hot water and slash your wrists; then you will be dead; it will be cheaper; it will be faster and in the long run it will be less painful to anybody who cares about you, because that’s where you’re headed now, and the best part of it is you won’t take somebody else with you.
“Who do you think you are? You don’t have the right to go out there and endanger innocent people and you know it. And you have had two convictions for drunk driving and you’re not twenty one and you still drink.”
Holtz is a veteran magistrate who joined the court in 1992 after practicing law for 18 years. She declined to talk with WXYZ about the tirade, but 52nd District Court officials offered an explanation late Monday.
“The words chosen by the Court’s magistrate to convey the seriousness and severity of the defendant’s actions and crime could have been better chosen,” the court said in a statement. “The magistrate was attempting to convey, through an analogy, that the defendant’s actions and past behavior has continually put the community at risk.”
The court’s statement to WXYZ also sought to prove Dickey remains a risk to the community. “It should also be noted that Mr. Dickey, at a probation appointment on May 12, 2008, tested positive for cocaine, marijuana and amphetamines in a urine screen.” Dickey has been sent to a rehab program. ..more.. by WXYZ
February 18, 2008
Why Don’t We Incapacitate Drunk Drivers?
2-18-2008 New Mexico:
As a rule, it’s a bad idea to let pedophiles baby-sit, to hire embezzlers as tax collectors, or to give a pyromaniac a key to the fireworks factory. We generally try to avoid inviting dangerous people into situations that encourage them to repeat their destructive behavior. So why do we allow drunk drivers unfettered access to their cars?
That’s a good question, for which New Mexico authorities had no good answer. For years, the state ranked among the very worst in the nation in alcohol-related fatalities. So three years ago, it decided a change was in order.
In the past, authorities had relied on license revocations to get drunks off the road. But here’s a surprise: People who ignore laws against driving drunk also tend to ignore laws requiring them to have a valid license. For some, taking away their license had all the impact of confiscating their library card.
So the legislature, prodded by Gov. Bill Richardson, imposed a tighter constraint on those convicted of DWI: requiring a device that keeps a car from being operated by someone who’s been drinking. Other states have mandated ignition interlock devices for those with multiple convictions, but New Mexico was the first to order them for all first offenders upon conviction.
The results were swift and sharp. Since the law took effect, the rate of drunk driving fatalities has dropped by nearly 20 percent. Nationally, by contrast, the rate actually rose slightly during that time.
New Mexico DWI Czar Rachel O’Connor — that’s her actual job title — notes that the state’s campaign against drunk driving includes other steps as well, from a massive public-service ad campaign to intensive use of sobriety checkpoints. But the interlock rule has been a major factor in the improvement.
At the moment, some 7,000 New Mexicans have to pass a breath-alcohol test before they can start their cars. Adding up all the times that motorists have failed the breath test, O’Connor says, the mandate has prevented 63,000 trips by offenders who have been hitting the bottle.
Now the state has additional evidence that its approach is working as intended. A new analysis of New Mexico’s experience, published in the journal Traffic Injury Prevention, finds that first offenders were 60 percent less likely to be rearrested if they had interlock devices than if they didn’t. When the gadgets were removed, their recidivism rate rose to nearly the same level as those who had never had them.
That isn’t terribly surprising. People who get behind the wheel of a two-ton machine when they’re under the influence tend to be people with serious alcohol problems, and they tend to keep driving drunk as long as we let them. Suspending their licenses deters some, but Mothers Against Drunk Driving says research indicates that about three out of every four keep driving anyway. As MADD CEO Chuck Hurley puts it, “We need to find a way to separate their hands from the steering wheel.”
Interlocks are the obvious solution. But so far, only four states have mandated them for all first offenders upon conviction.
Even then, they’re not an insuperable obstacle. Determined sots can hotwire their cars, borrow vehicles or have someone else — such as a child — blow untainted carbon dioxide into the devices. Another problem, says O’Connor, is that some offenders claim to have gotten rid of their cars, signing them over to friends or relatives but retaining surreptitious use of them.
Still, the requirement does work to prevent a lot of impaired driving. And it puts no burden on taxpayers, since offenders bear the $1,000-a-year cost.
It also has benefits for the culprits. In most states, the standard method for stopping drunk drivers is to revoke their licenses so they aren’t allowed to drive at all. Under this policy, they may drive all they want as long as they’re stone cold sober. It incapacitates the incorrigible while sparing the repentant. A canceled license, which lets the offender police his own conduct, does just the opposite.
In 2006, more than 14,000 people across the country died in accidents involving drunk drivers. If that number strikes you as too high, interlocks for all DWI offenders is one proven way to lower it. If 14,000 sounds about right, though, then the status quo is just perfect. ..more.. by Steve Chapman, Syndicated Columnist
