Contact:
Sergeant L R Smith
Colorado State Patrol
719-544-2424
Lloyd.Smith@cdps.state.co.us
________________________________________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Date: 01-11-2009 Time: 12:00 p.m.
Law enforcement officers from across the county meet with deputy district attorneys for recognition, training and a ride along DUI saturation patrol resulting in 10 DUI arrests
COLORADO SPRINGS – On Friday night, January 8, 2010, seventy-six representatives from the Colorado State Patrol, El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, Colorado Springs Police Department, Fountain Police Department, Pikes Peak Community College Police Department and deputy district attorneys from the fourth judicial district met for an evening of training followed by a 14 officer DUI Saturation Patrol.
The training began with an update on the option of Ignition Interlock devices for use in sentencing by Karen Teel with Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). MADD also served food to the seminar participants, which was donated by Dominos Pizza. The State Patrol recognized the Statewide “Top DUI Enforcement Trooper”, Trooper Brent Butler of Troop 2B. Trooper Butler arrested more impaired drivers than any other Trooper in the entire state. The group also recognized Designated Driver of Colorado Springs who provided over 2200 free rides last year to intoxicated patrons preventing potentially 2200 drunken drivers from driving home. The ride home is free to the intoxicated patron of bars that sponsor the program as well as any active duty military personnel.
Jim Bentley, with the fourth Judicial District hosted a discussion on best practices in documenting and investigating impaired drivers.
After the training 14 deputy district attorneys were given the opportunity to ride along with officers from all five police departments as they made routine traffic stops and investigated impaired drivers. The Saturation Patrol of 14 officers with DA riders stopped 66 vehicles for traffic violations and arrested 10 suspected drunk drivers in the 2 hour saturation patrol. The BAT van was available for evidentiary breath and blood alcohol testing. One driver, arrested for drunk driving, had been arrested for drunk driving twice in the preceding three months, while her DUI cases have not made it to the court system, her driver’s license was already suspended twice. Initially upon being contacted by the officer – she provided a false name resulting in a felony charge. Since Thanksgiving 12% of all 1631 statewide DUI arrests, have been in El Paso County.
Sgt Smith of the Colorado State Patrol said: “This multi-jurisdiction saturation patrol is an excellent time for officers with different agencies to meet, work together and share ideas. It is a great opportunity for these officers to build rapport with the deputy district attorneys who will be prosecuting DUI cases.” A similar saturation patrol is being planned for the summer.
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Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Monday, January 11, 2010
444 People Started Off the New Year with a DUI
Colorado State Patrol PIO – 303-239-4583 Heather Halpape, CDOT
303-757-9484 or 303-888-6319 (cell)
444 People Started Off the New Year with a DUI
Downloads of “R-U-Buzzed” iPhone App top 100,000
DENVER – The Colorado State Patrol and more than 50 law enforcement agencies across the state reported making 444 DUI arrests during the recent New Year’s Eve “Heat Is On” enforcement period, Dec. 30, 2009 through Jan. 4, 2010. That brought the total number of DUI arrests made during DUI enforcement periods since Thanksgiving to 1,631.
“There were plenty of warnings given over the holiday season that drinking and driving would not be tolerated,” said Col. James Wolfinbarger, chief of the Colorado State Patrol. “Most people got the message, but there were still hundreds of people who recklessly put lives in jeopardy by driving impaired. As we begin a new year, let’s all make a resolution to never get behind the wheel after drinking alcohol.”
Thousands of people have taken action to educate themselves and plan ahead when drinking alcohol. The “R-U-Buzzed BAC Calculator” iPhone app, launched by CDOT in early December, has been downloaded 103,400 times from the Apple App Store and has remained in the Top 25 Free Healthcare & Fitness apps since its introduction. The free app allows users to calculate their estimated blood alcohol concentration (BAC) based on how many drinks they have consumed, how long they have been drinking, and their gender.
“We’re glad to see people are interested in using this high-tech tool to educate themselves about how much alcohol it can take to affect their ability to drive safely,” said Pamela Hutton, CDOT’s governor’s representative for highway safety. “When in doubt, the safest and smartest option is to always designate a sober driver.”
According to preliminary reports, nine people were killed on Colorado roadways in alcohol-related crashes between Nov. 23 and Jan. 4, 2010. That is down slightly from the time period in 2008-09 when 12 people were killed in drunk driving crashes.
The following agencies and CSP Troops made the highest number of DUI arrests during the New Year’s enforcement period:
Denver PD 55
Colorado Springs PD 42
Larimer County SO 17
Adams County SO 16
Aurora PD 16
CSP Troop 2B Colo. Spgs. 16
Lakewood PD 15
CSP Troop 2D Pueblo 12
Jefferson Co. SO 12
Boulder PD 11
CSP Troop 1C Castle Rock 11
CSP Troop 1D Adams 11
The next “Heat Is On” DUI enforcement period will occur over Super Bowl weekend, Feb. 5-8th.
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For more information on the DUI enforcement period results and local law enforcement statistics, visit www.dot.state.co.us/trafficsafety/ and click “Reports” on the header. Choose “Heat is on! Enforcement,” select the enforcement period and agency and click “View Report.”
303-757-9484 or 303-888-6319 (cell)
444 People Started Off the New Year with a DUI
Downloads of “R-U-Buzzed” iPhone App top 100,000
DENVER – The Colorado State Patrol and more than 50 law enforcement agencies across the state reported making 444 DUI arrests during the recent New Year’s Eve “Heat Is On” enforcement period, Dec. 30, 2009 through Jan. 4, 2010. That brought the total number of DUI arrests made during DUI enforcement periods since Thanksgiving to 1,631.
“There were plenty of warnings given over the holiday season that drinking and driving would not be tolerated,” said Col. James Wolfinbarger, chief of the Colorado State Patrol. “Most people got the message, but there were still hundreds of people who recklessly put lives in jeopardy by driving impaired. As we begin a new year, let’s all make a resolution to never get behind the wheel after drinking alcohol.”
Thousands of people have taken action to educate themselves and plan ahead when drinking alcohol. The “R-U-Buzzed BAC Calculator” iPhone app, launched by CDOT in early December, has been downloaded 103,400 times from the Apple App Store and has remained in the Top 25 Free Healthcare & Fitness apps since its introduction. The free app allows users to calculate their estimated blood alcohol concentration (BAC) based on how many drinks they have consumed, how long they have been drinking, and their gender.
“We’re glad to see people are interested in using this high-tech tool to educate themselves about how much alcohol it can take to affect their ability to drive safely,” said Pamela Hutton, CDOT’s governor’s representative for highway safety. “When in doubt, the safest and smartest option is to always designate a sober driver.”
According to preliminary reports, nine people were killed on Colorado roadways in alcohol-related crashes between Nov. 23 and Jan. 4, 2010. That is down slightly from the time period in 2008-09 when 12 people were killed in drunk driving crashes.
The following agencies and CSP Troops made the highest number of DUI arrests during the New Year’s enforcement period:
Denver PD 55
Colorado Springs PD 42
Larimer County SO 17
Adams County SO 16
Aurora PD 16
CSP Troop 2B Colo. Spgs. 16
Lakewood PD 15
CSP Troop 2D Pueblo 12
Jefferson Co. SO 12
Boulder PD 11
CSP Troop 1C Castle Rock 11
CSP Troop 1D Adams 11
The next “Heat Is On” DUI enforcement period will occur over Super Bowl weekend, Feb. 5-8th.
###
For more information on the DUI enforcement period results and local law enforcement statistics, visit www.dot.state.co.us/trafficsafety/ and click “Reports” on the header. Choose “Heat is on! Enforcement,” select the enforcement period and agency and click “View Report.”
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