Arrests for drunken driving in Evanston more than doubled from2001 to 2002, a statistic police attribute to a new enforcementprogram.
Driving under the influence arrests by Evanston PoliceDepartment rose from 81 in 2001 to 168 in 2002, said Mike Perlman,a crime analyst for EPD.
In October, the traffic division implemented a pilot DUIdetection program that placed two specialists on the road more thanfour nights per week to look for drunken drivers. Police on regularbeats often catch drunken drivers but cannot devote their fullattention to identifying them, said Sgt. Rick Voss.
“(Drunken drivers) have probably always been there,” Voss said.”I think (the rise) is just strictly because we’ve taken an activeapproach to detection.”
The two officers in the DUI program patrol Evanston from 7 p.m.to 4 a.m., the peak hours for drunken driving incidents, Vosssaid.
During the 3-month pilot program, the officers arrested 68people for drunken driving and five drivers under the age of 21 inviolation of Illinois’ Zero Tolerance policy. Under the law,drivers under 21 with any amount of alcohol in their bloodstreamcan be arrested and have their license suspended for a minimum ofthree months.
Those with prior DUI convictions can face a maximum two-yearsuspension.
In the process of patrolling for drunken drivers, the officersalso arrested 22 drivers for driving with a suspended or revokedlicense and another 30 for other traffic violations.
By adding police officers specifically dedicated to seeking DUIarrests, the program netted 17 to 21 more drunken driving arrestsper month, Voss said.
Because of its success, the pilot program will be extended. Vosssaid he plans to continue sending the two DUI specialists out atleast four nights per week but cannot expand the program because offinancial limitations.
“I’m continuing it as long as I can,” he said. “I’m very limitedin my resources. The most you’re going to see from this division isfour out of every six nights.”
University Police has no specific drunken driving patrol, but UPperiodically dispatches officers to work with EPD on drunkendriving enforcement, said Lt. Nicholas Parashis of EPD.
“From time to time, we do a DUI roadblock with them,” Parashissaid.
Voss first envisioned a full-time DUI program during informaldiscussions with other traffic officers on how EPD could betterenforce drunken driving laws. EPD had already implemented a drunkendriving watch during weekend nights, but Voss said the departmentrecognized it could make Evanston’s streets safer by dispatchingDUI officers during the week.
“I said, ‘Well, let’s try something different,'” Voss said.
