Davis County to combat DUIs online
FARMINGTON — By 8 a.m. Thursday, Davis County officers had already arrested three people for driving under the influence.
The county has the highest per capita rate of DUI-related crashes in Utah. Bountiful Police Chief Tom Ross and county leaders don't like it.
Repeat DUI offenders might not like one of the proposed solutions: An online registry listing those arrested multiple times for drinking and driving.
The Davis County Sheriff's Office and Bountiful Police Department gathered Thursday afternoon outside the Davis Justice Center to launch a campaign, dubbed Davis HELPS, aimed at cracking down on driving under the influence through an advertisement campaign and the registry of repeat DUI offenders.
A $2 million state grant to specifically combat drunken driving will fund the program, but the departments want to expand it to combat all types of impaired driving.
The proposed registry would include the name of anyone with two or more DUIs in the past three years, as well as their mug shot and blood-alcohol level. Repeat offenders may be searchable by zip code, but their address would be kept off the site, Ross said.
Not everyone supports the idea. Ross acknowledged that critics might call the registry an invasion of privacy or a public shaming.
"But I would hope that there is some stigma created in the public for repeat offenders," if that's what it takes to reduce drunken driving in Davis County, Ross said. Besides, all the proposed information is already public record.
New Mexico has a similar program, which allows citizens to look up offenders in a court registry and The Albuquerque Journal prints the name and face of anyone caught driving drunk. New Mexico reports at least a 4 percent decrease in fatalities since the registry's inception.
The proposed registry hasn't been finalized and won't go online until October or November. Davis HELPS is waiting to weigh public opinion of the registry before going ahead with it, said Brent Wilhite, spokesman for Davis HELPS. He said that if negativity toward the registry outnumbers its support by fall, it would not go online.
Officers made 1,700 DUI arrests in Davis County last year, Davis HELPS campaign spokesman Brandon Hatch told county leaders earlier this month.
As part of the Davis HELPS campaign, the Bountiful Police Department was also planning a checkpoint on 500 South throughout the weekend. During a checkpoint set up in Bountiful four months ago, police pulled over 12 drunken drivers in one night, Ross said.
He hopes that a strong public stigma against repeat offenders will encourage a smaller number during future checks.
E-MAIL: mmcfall@desnews.com
Recent comments
After reading these articles, I have a proposal to make. I know that...
Middle ground..... | July 1, 2009 at 9:27 a.m.
Anyone here ever been to Germany?
When I was in the service there,...
Veteran | July 1, 2009 at 8:41 a.m.
This isnt about hate this is about facts. You make a choice to drink...
Lisa | June 30, 2009 at 4:11 p.m.
- Bengals run over Browns 2:43 p.m.
- Seattle makes it 10 in row over Rams 2:37 p.m.
- Colts remain perfect with win 2:31 p.m.
- The joy of a baby's love 2:26 p.m.
- Holiday shopping mildly encouraging 2:17 p.m.
- Woods cancels meeting with police 2:09 p.m.
- Venezuelan banks to be nationalized? 2:02 p.m.
- USA Today Top 25 Poll 1:48 p.m.
- The AP Top 25 1:45 p.m.
- No. 1 vs. No. 2 in SEC title game 1:43 p.m.
- Hall mouths off about hate of Utah
- BYU is champion of the state
- Cougars beat Utes in overtime
- Credit Coug defense for win
- Field goals, penalties doomed Utes
- Cave to be sealed with body inside
- Cougar defense rose to occasion
- Marriage definitions vary widely
- Jones' joy for life remembered
- Banged up Jazz get best of Blazers
- Hall mouths off about hate of Utah
594 - Cougars beat Utes in overtime
458 - Thunder rolls by Jazz
136 - Man trapped in Nutty Putty cave dies
117 - BYU is champion of the state
116 - Cave to be sealed with body inside
115 - Editorial: Poor welcome for Palin
113 - Rivalry Week is highly profane
89 - Hall's legacy measured today
77 - Y. focused on 10-win season
73
I wanted to tell them not to go. I dropped subtle hints. "My money is on...
When I was a kid, I worshipped my grandpa. He was undoubtedly my hero....
Please refer to any of the news reports that confirm that Jamie Whittingham...
AFTER HIS 15 TURNOVERS LAST YEAR. IT WAS PROBABLY A BYU FAN THAT DUMPED BEER...
Inarticulately angry or inappropriately angry. If some idiot fans did abuse...
Channel 2 covered the fact that Jaime Whittingham had been HIT in the mouth...
Max, thanks for taking all of the joy out of beating that school up north....
It's not a very bright kid who goes looking for his name in internet message...
I support you Max--100%!!!
spencer nelson is a scrub. not even close to NBA caliber
You are trying to soothe the accute pain of defeat by making remarks made by...
Let's take a poll: How many BYU fans are interested in attending a BYU/Utah...



