From Deseret News archives:
Utah's DUI reporting mess
In past weeks, we have cited statistics on the number of people arrested for drunken driving in Utah, and on the number of people killed in alcohol-related accidents. The truth is, it's hard to get a good handle on reliable drunken driving statistics in Utah. In fact, it's almost impossible for prosecutors to know whether someone they are trying to convict has had a prior arrest or conviction for DUI.
As a result, too many drunken driving cases end up like that of Kirk Kenneth Denis, who finally was sentenced to jail earlier this year despite being arrested repeatedly over the last 10 years in various jurisdictions.
It took the tenacity of a Deseret News reporter to finally piece together much of the information. Denis had been arrested and convicted six times. Five of the arrests came along some of the Wasatch Front's busy freeways, where he put the lives of many people at risk. Once he was caught driving recklessly and drunk with a young child in the car.
When this happens, local jurisdictions scurry for cover. No one wants to take responsibility. Everyone claims to be doing his or her job and points the finger elsewhere. The result is a three-ring circus of justice, and the driver often is reloaded into the chamber for another round of Russian roulette.
This is a scandal, and everyone from the governor to the Legislature to the average person who gets into a car and worries about the competence of other drivers should be outraged.
In the Denis case, several jurisdictions never sent information about his conviction to the Bureau of Criminal Identification. Officials in Bluffdale, one of the cities in which he was arrested, reacted defensively when asked about this. The case had not been closed because Denis still was serving probation there, they said. They are not supposed to forward information until the case is closed. Their reaction was typical.
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