From Deseret News archives:
Summit dragnet nets good catch: designated drivers and only 5 DUIs
MADD spokesmen says it's a sign that drinkers understand
"That's an encouraging sign," said Art Brown, president of Utah's chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. "(It) shows they've made a decision up there to find other ways home."
MADD brought food and gifts for the officers from Park City police, the Utah Highway Patrol and the Summit County Sheriff's Office who worked the DUI saturation patrol on SR-224 and SR-248 between the hours of 11 p.m. Wednesday and 3 a.m. Thursday.
Police were surprised by the result, Park City police Lt. Phil Kirk said.
"I think we expected more DUI arrests . . . we made a lot of stops," Kirk said. "But I'm encouraged that we saw a very low percentage of drunk drivers, that's good, especially in the holiday season."
DUI saturation patrols are commonly done by police over various holidays, but Wednesday night's effort was a first for Park City and Summit County, Kirk said. A total of 20 officers, five from each agency participated in the sweep.
In addition to the five drivers arrested for DUI, one person was arrested for driving on a suspended license and another 30 citations were issued for various other traffic violations, Kirk said. Three cars were also impounded for tax reasons.
Utah police agencies will collectively spend about 4,000 overtime hours working DUI sweeps around the state during the Christmas and New Year's holiday, Brown said. And annually an average of 15,000 DUI arrests — or more than 1,200 each month — are made in the state.
"It's an amazing amount of extra shifts they work to make sure people understand the community means business," Brown said, adding that MADD believes the sweeps are an important part of getting the "don't drink and drive" message. "It sends a message to the drinking community that they do live in a community and that it's important for them, when they drink, not to drive impaired. When they do, it shows a real disrespect for the community, and it devalues life."
Still, Utah has the lowest rate of DUI fatalities in the nation, he notes. About 17,000 people die annually in DUI accidents across the United States.
"What that shows you is that parts of the drinking community here are very responsible," he said. "But when you arrest 15,000 a year, and you spend so much law enforcement time, it's still a big problem."
Brown and Kirk agreed that the eight designated drivers identified police in the sweep show that the efforts by organizations like MADD, police and others are getting through.
"When you have eight designated drivers, what that underscores is that a lot of people have made a decision to be responsible, that they have a sense of community responsibility and individual safety," Brown said. "I've really come to believe that that's (the drinkers') community responsibility. When they don't have that, they kill not only unknown people, but they kill their friends, even their relatives and themselves."
E-mail: jdobner@desnews.com
