Tudela: Holiday season posts low DUI-related arrests

Department of Public Safety commissioner Santiago F. Tudela recently lauded the Drunk and Drugged Driving Committee as well as the department’s Traffic and Patrol sections for the “low” number of arrests of drunk and drugged drivers during the recent holidays.

Tudela disclosed that only seven DUI arrests were made during the holidays, and explained that this was because of the aggressive campaign against impaired driving.

“The low numbers of arrests [during the] Christmas holidays has to be attributed to the 3D committee, the Traffic and Patrol [sections] for their effort in aggressively enforcing DUI,” he said.

The 3D campaign also featured a Designated Drivers program, which was in operation after Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day.

The program, which consisted of volunteer members, provided designated drivers who transported intoxicated individuals from establishments or residential areas to their homes.

Tudela also gave credit to the community for abiding with the law and assisting in saving lives by not driving while intoxicated.

“I think most of the people [who were intoxicated] decided to just stay home because they knew that if they go out, chances are, they’re going to be caught,” he said.

Tudela said that because of the popularity of the National Football League’s Super Bowl game on Jan. 23, a sobriety checkpoint would be conducted as a deterrent to impaired driving. The time of the checkpoint has yet to be disclosed.

“A lot of government employees don’t go to work, school is closed…they start drinking at about 9am and leave establishments at 2pm or 3:30pm,” he said. “So I’m planning on putting out a sobriety checkpoint on Super Bowl Day.”

Tudela also disclosed that his proposed unannounced checkpoints over the holidays did not go through as planned after attorney general Pamela Brown informed him that it was unconstitutional.

“With that, I decided to hold it back and wait to now explain to the public why that didn’t go through,” he said.

Tudela explained that he did not want to reveal the status of the unannounced checkpoints before the end of the holidays because he wanted intoxicated individuals to think twice before driving.

“I wanted to wait to announce it. I don’t want to announce it before the holidays were over because people will start going around driving drunk. It kept them wondering,” he said.

Earlier, DPS spokesman Eric F. David disclosed that the first nine months of 2004 posted a seven-fold increase in the number of injuries sustained due to drunk and drugged driving when compared with the number recorded in the entire year of 2003.

As of September 2004, a total of 56 injuries were classified as DUI related, compared with only 8 recorded in 2003-an increase of 600 percent.

David said that five of the injuries were classified as serious, two more than numbers recorded in 2003.

DPS made 257 arrests relating to DUI from January to September 2004. In all of 2003, the DPS made 369 arrests.

Last year also saw an increase in traffic-related fatalities, with nine deaths recorded. David said that of the nine, seven involved alcohol.

In 2003, a total of eight fatalities were recorded, five of which involved alcohol.

Statistics from October to December are still being compiled and results would be released at a later date.