Articles Posted in DWI and DUI

Police departments around the country are planning to ramp up their DUI detection and suppression efforts for the big game this weekend. Cops will deploy more road patrol officers than normal, and set up numerous checkpoints around the country this coming Sunday. These patrols and checkpoints will focus on popular nightlife areas and suburban neighborhoods where millions will be hosting or attending parties. Baltimore will likely see a large police presence in the downtown area, as thousands of Ravens fans will be out watching and celebrating the hometown team. The best piece of advice for any party goer who plans on drinking is to walk, take public transportation, or cab it. But, as most Marylanders are aware the state’s public transportation system and taxi cab network is hardly to most accessible, so driving is usually the only option. Get a designated driver, and try to find one that’ll be able to resist the temptation to drink when the Ravens are playing well, playing poorly, or doing both from one play to the next.

Police departments tend to send out press releases about increased DUI patrols because their publicly stated goal is to prevent drunk driving. But for the road patrol officers out on the street who aren’t able to watch the game, their goal is to make arrests. Many false or illegal DUI arrests occur on holidays or during large events when cops are on high alert. You can be sure that police will be quick to arrest after a traffic stop or at a checkpoint throughout the day and night on Sunday at the first hint of alcohol. Simply having a few drinks and then driving is not illegal. For police to make and arrest, a driver must either have a blood alcohol level of at least .08 or display to the stopping officer that they are intoxicated or under the influence to the extent that their faculties are impaired. It is not illegal to smell like beer and get behind the wheel, so it is important to know your rights if you happen to be pulled over.
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A Delaware resident was recently arrested on Maryland’s Eastern Shore after he allegedly led police on a multi county high speed chase. State Police troopers along with the Kent County Sheriffs Department collaborated in apprehending the suspect, who was charged with multiple traffic infractions and crimes. Some of the more serious crimes included fleeing and eluding, DUI, and negligent driving. The chase originated near Chestertown, which is the county seat, and largest city in Kent County. At about 2 in the afternoon, law enforcement received a call about a suspected drunk driver. Sheriffs responded to the area of the call, and one officer observed a Dodge Charger that matched the description in the call speeding along Route 213. The Officer initiated a traffic stop and made contact with the driver of the Charger. The contact with the Officer did not last long, as the driver took off at a high rate of speed.

The stopping officer immediately called for backup and gave chase after the suspect. In a desperate attempt to avoid law enforcement, the suspect turned onto U.S. 301 and allegedly accelerated to speeds near 150 miles per hour. Despite the exceptionally high rate of speed, law enforcement officers did not abandon their pursuit and a cross county chase continued into Queen Anne’s County. The suspect apparently lost the cops at one point, but later came to a stop near route 300 where he was arrested. At the time of the initial report, it does not appear that anyone was injured in the chase or that there was any sort of car accident. The suspect allegedly decided on his own volition to give up trying to flee from police.
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The Anne Arundel County Police Department has released its final statistics about a recent DUI checkpoint. The results are consistent with another Maryland DUI checkpoint on the Eastern Shore that was the subject of a previous blog entry, and provide further evidence supporting the conclusion that DUI checkpoints are not a cost effective method of cracking down on drunk driving. In this particular checkpoint traffic was basically slowed to a halt in both directions of Ritchie Highway in Brooklyn Park, Maryland. Anne Arundel County police officers as well as the Maryland State Police worked together in running the checkpoint. The county police did not release just how many total officers were involved, but a conservative estimate would put around twenty total officers at the scene for roughly five hours. Again, this is a conservative estimate for both the amount of officers involved as well as the time frame of the checkpoint. There were likely far more police resources expended in setting up the checkpoint, running it, and then closing up the scene. The statistics do not suggest that this particular checkpoint was worth the costs.

According to the Ann Arundel police, a total of 695 drivers were stopped in the Ritchie Highway DUI checkpoint. That is 695 drivers, and not total citizens that were forced by the government to submit to an involuntary stop. There were most likely over one thousands citizens that had an unwanted run in with the police that night. Out of the 695 drivers, Ann Arundel and Maryland State Police made a total of 5 DUI arrests. Far less than one percent of the drivers that were investigated for DUI actually exhibited enough signs of intoxication to warrant an arrest. Twenty plus police officers and 4 to 6 hours of police work and the only thing to show for it is 5 DUI arrests. For those counting, that is about 1 DUI arrest for every 5 officers, and about one per hour. The numbers just do not add up.
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The previous blog post discussed the effectiveness of Maryland DUI checkpoints, and specifically focused on Howard County, Maryland. Howard County has long since been the most aggressive Maryland County when it comes to instituting and publicizing DUI checkpoints. This post will go into greater detail about yet another Maryland county choosing to make a news splash by instituting a DUI checkpoint during a holiday weekend. The cost and inconvenience of the latest Howard County DUI checkpoint arguably outweighed the actual benefit, but you would never hear anyone from Howard County police admit to that. On the other hand, police from this weekend’s Maryland DUI checkpoint in Worcester County may have spilled the beans on what they really think about the value of DUI checkpoints.

The Worcester County DUI checkpoint was conducted through a collaboration of various police departments. Police departments in the Delmarva region have collaborated in the past during previous DUI checkpoints. The Maryland police departments involved in this particular DUI checkpoint team included cops from Berlin, Ocean City, the Worcester County Sheriff, and the Maryland State Police. The Maryland State Police typically takes care of all the public relations in multi jurisdictional efforts such as this Worcester County DUI checkpoint, and the state police spokesman made an extremely telling statement. In a press release the Sergeant was quoted as saying of DUI checkpoints, “they don’t always result in a lot of people being arrested for DUI, but you have a lot of contact and education”. You can take the Sergeant’s comments as typical PR rhetoric and simply gloss over them, or you could dissect and analyze the comments. This being a legal blog, we will do the latter. The Maryland State Trooper first admitted that the checkpoints do not result in a lot of DUI arrests. If the checkpoints do not result in arrests, then why would multiple Maryland police agencies spend time, money, and resources collaborating to plan the checkpoints? Especially when we already know from multiple studies that police can make more DUI arrests using simple patrol saturation tactics, which require minimal planning and collaboration.
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Howard County police recently set up a DUI checkpoint on Maryland Route 1. The checkpoint, which was located in North Laurel, began in the late evening on Friday night and extended into the early morning hours of Saturday. Police chose the location after examining DUI arrest data and traffic accident data where alcohol was involved. Howard County police did not release the exact hours of the DUI checkpoint, or how many officers were involved in the operation, but typical DUI checkpoints last roughly 6 hours and involve at least 10 police officers. Howard County did release the statistics of how many cars were stopped and how many arrests were made. In total, the DUI checkpoint resulted in 690 vehicles being stopped, and a total of 5 people being arrested. Of the 5 arrests, two were for driving on a suspended license, and 3 arrests were for DUI. One of the suspects arrested for DUI was 18 years old, and was also charged with a separate alcohol charge of underage drinking.

Howard County police reported that other drivers displayed signs of alcohol consumption, but these drivers were not arrested because they did not meet the legal criteria for impairment. Police officers distributed literature on the dangers of drinking and driving to all drivers that passed through the DUI checkpoint. DUI checkpoints are scheduled a few times per year in Howard County. Typically police will schedule a DUI checkpoint during times where alcohol consumption is higher than normal, such as during St. Patrick’s Day and on the Fourth of July. This most recent checkpoint was scheduled after the Fourth of July DUI checkpoint was called off due to rain. Other Maryland jurisdictions such as Baltimore City and Anne Arundel County schedule DUI checkpoints as well, but Howard County holds DUI checkpoints with greater regularity.
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Talk about a rough night. A southern Maryland man was recently arrested for DUI and multiple other traffic offenses. Police came in contact with the man after he was pulled over for unsafe lane changing. Upon contacting the man, the Maryland State Trooper noticed the odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from the driver’s breath. After conducting a DUI investigation, the trooper arrested the man and charged him with DUI, negligent driving, and unsafe lane change. The driver was also given a breathalyzer test at the police station, where his blood alcohol content registered .15, nearly twice the legal limit. A DUI arrest and multiple traffic tickets would certainly have ruined anyone’s evening, but the southern Maryland man’s night was far from over at this point.

The man was arrested at about 2 a.m. and taken to the police station in St. Mary’s County, Maryland. Rather than holding the man overnight, police were kind enough to release the man on his own recognizance less than two hours later. No bail bond was necessary, and police did not wait for the man to sober up, but rather allowed him to call for a sober driver to pick him up. It is unclear whether the man actually got a ride from the police station or if he simply walked home, but the man’s car was still in the tow lot at the time he was released from the Maryland police station. Here is where the southern Maryland man’s night went from bad to historically awful. At about 4 a.m. the same Maryland State Trooper was called to perform a DUI investigation in a shopping center parking lot, which was the exact scene where he had just arrested the man for DUI 2 hours before. Unbeknownst to the trooper at the time of the call, the suspect turned out to be the same man that the trooper had just arrested. When the trooper arrived to the shopping center he discovered that the same man he had just arrested was driving a different car, and was slightly less intoxicated, but still well over the legal limit of .08. The southern Maryland man was arrested yet again for DUI, and this time blew a .11 on the breathalyzer machine.
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Breath alcohol tests for drivers suspected of DUI could resume in Washington D.C. as early as next month. Washington was forced to suspend its breath alcohol testing program in drunk driving cases after lawyers of convicted DUI defendants filed dozens of lawsuits challenging the validity the test results. Four of these lawsuits ended in settlements against the city, and other civil lawsuits are still pending. The city eventually admitted that its employees provided inaccurate breathalyzer test results to city prosecutors that were used as evidence in DUI cases. Just as in Maryland, Washington breath technicians are required to conduct and document regular maintenance testing for breath alcohol testing machines, but D.C. techs were neglecting to perform these maintenance tests. In some cases breath technicians were even providing false documentation to prosecuting lawyers that was directly used to prove DUI cases.

A new bill has been introduced in the D.C. counsel that would completely overhaul the city’s breath alcohol testing procedures. The bill would also establish stricter standards for prosecuting drunk driving cases and would increase the punishments for defendants convicted of DUI. As it now stands, Washington’s drunk driving laws are the most lenient in the region, and one of the goals of the counsel is to align D.C’s drunk driving laws with those of Maryland and Virginia. Maryland law currently provides a maximum punishment of up to 1 year in jail and a $1,000 fine for a first DUI conviction. On the other hand, a first DUI conviction in Washington D.C. is only punishable by 90 days in jail and a $300 fine. The new D.C. bill proposes an increase in the maximum punishments for a first DUI to 180 days in jail and a $1,000 fine. Washington D.C. officials have also proposed establishing minimum mandatory jail sentences in DUI cases where the driver has a blood alcohol level of .20 or higher, and in cases where a minor is present inside the vehicle at the time the driver was alleged to have been driving under the influence.
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With the summer boating season in full swing, the Maryland natural resource police is charged with the daunting task of keeping the state’s waterways safe. Enforcing Maryland’s DUI laws out on the water is one way that the natural resource police can accomplish this objective. The Maryland state police, and local police departments across the state devote a great deal of effort to maintain or increase the amount of drunk driving arrests each year. This is in part to send a message to the public that drunk driving will not be tolerated out on Maryland’s roads. Each summer, the natural resource police attempts to send the same message that driving a boat while under the influence of alcohol or drugs will not be tolerated on Maryland’s waters. If you decide to venture out on the 17,000 miles of river or the 1,700 square miles of Chesapeake Bay, chances are that you will encounter a Maryland natural resource police officer. In order to prepare for one of these encounters, it is important for boaters to understand how Maryland’s drunk driving laws apply to boaters.

Maryland law does not differentiate between boating and driving with respect to drunk driving laws. The Maryland DUI law, which falls under the transportation statute, prohibits driving any vehicle while either under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or while intoxicated. The words any vehicle are understood to include vessels such as motorboats, sailboats, and jet skis. Therefore, Maryland DUI laws are exactly the same regardless of whether you are driving a car on 695 or cruising on a jet ski down the bay in Ocean City. Maryland natural resource police officers are trained in DUI detection in the same manner as state troopers and local police officers. Natural resource police are also equipped with intoxilyzer machines to administer breath alcohol tests to boaters who they think may be under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Police officers that patrol Maryland’s waters may also have an advantage over road patrol officers in making DUI arrests.
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