- Governor Jim Doyle
- Page Two
- August 29,2008
takes a drunk off the road. But to the extent that the arrest doesn't result in a meaningful adjudication of the matter through the sentencing stage, and to the extent that our OWl enforcement efforts clearly aren't resulting in the culture change that we need in this state, I would characterize these efforts as a failing strategy. Arrest has its place, but as part of a multi-pronged attack: education, treatment, prosecution, and the part that we are most markedly failing at, deterrence. Patrolling and arresting drunks is expensive and time consuming. As a rule, I don't like playing hide-and-seek games with criminals. It is intolerable when our citizen's lives are in the balance. It's time to come out into the open. And my peers, such as International Association of Chief's of Police (IACP) President Joseph Carter, agree with me:
"Impaired driving is not just another traffic offense; it is a serious crime that often causes needless deaths and injuries. More than two decades of research have demonstrated that sobriety checkpoints and other law enforcement efforts make a difference. They are vitally effective techniques to get impaired drivers off of our roads."
We know the data. Alcohol-related crashes are most common between Midnight and 3 AM, on the weekends. In 2006, the average positive alcohol concentration test in Wisconsin was a staggering .17 AC.* Kari Kinnard, Executive Director for MADD Wisconsin, a passionate voice for toughening how we handle impaired driving, has told me that in discourse between MADD and your office, you have signaled support for sobriety checkpoints, the expanded use of ignition interlock devices in OWl-related sentencing, and generally enhanced penalties for OWl offenses.
Why checkpoints? Governor, in an OWl saturation patrol model, which the limitations of current state statutes forces me to employ, ten of my deputies may, in a given night, arrest ten impaired drivers. Maybe. On a good night. And, every other motorist on the roadway sees what he or she has always seen ... a car pulled over on the side of the road. Life goes on for them. In a well-run sobriety checkpoint, five officers will interact with thousands of motorists. They may make the same number of arrests, but.9.!l of those motorists will be impacted. They will go home, and tell their families that they went through a checkpoint. They'll talk about it at work the next day. Our children will ask questions about what they have experienced. OWl enforcement will be discussed in a way that integrates it into our lives. Every driver on our roadways will know that around the next bend they may be interacting with a law enforcement officer. Designated driver usage will explode. The culture will change.
Governor, this isn't just a law enforcement opinion or issue; it is a public health issue, and the National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention agree. Sobriety checkpoints reduce alcohol-related crashes.
* WisDOT, BOTS, Policy Analysis and Local Programs, 2006
