IamA Police Officer Who Does a Lot of DWI Work. AMA!

How do you feel about the guy in california who got charged with a dui after cutting an officer off in traffic? He passed a breathalyzer and blood test and only had caffiene in his system. Charges we just dropped a few days ago luckily after fighting them since august.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2016/12/29/health/dui-charge-caffeine-california-trnd/index.html?client=ms-android-hms-tmobile-us

Shitty arrest, probably a shitty cop. As if we need more bad press.

Are you offered any kind of incentives or reward for # of arrests made?

Do oficers with a history of making false arrests actually recieve any kind of punishment?

You seem to have a level head and i respect that, I saw what you answered about not pursing to charge someone who didnt appear intoxicated after a few beers a little further down.

Definitely no incentives per-arrest. My paycheck is just as shitty as the guys that do nothing ever.

I'm pretty fortunate to work for an agency with lots of professional guys. Even cases that ultimately get thrown out for some technicality (or due to prosecutorial discretion) aren't necessarily "false" arrests. Just because the DA determines that it's not in the interests of justice to pursue something in court doesn't mean that there wasn't probable cause to make an arrest. Some of our "lowest" arrests in terms of offense severity are just... not pursued in court. As an example: a public intoxication charge. Let's say there's definitely PC for the arrest, and the dude sleeps it off overnight in holding before bailing out for $50 or whatever. A couple weeks later, the DA decides not to even file the charge at all because they think the guy has already been punished enough or whatever. The law was used to deal with the drunk dude, he gets his $50 back, and he doesn't have a criminal record. All good. Not a bad arrest.

I've not encountered or heard of any just straight-up bad arrests from our guys. thankfully.

By false arrest i meant like the one above with the caffiene, obviously that should not have resulted in a dui arrest and he should have been allowed to drive off. Whats to stop that officer from doing it again?

Hopefully a serious reprimand from his employing agency. Hopefully.

What is usually the reason for the traffic stop that leads to a DWI? Traffic violation? Equipment inoperative (tail light out)? or obvious signs of DUI (failure to maintain your lane)?

Before you approach the car do you usually have a good idea that you will be encountering an impaired driver or does it usually develop once you've made contact with the driver?

Thanks for doing an AMA!

These days, the swerving cars and other ostensibly "obvious" violations end up being people texting. Like a good 90% of the time. But overall, I've had just as many DWIs from equipment violations like tail lights being out as I have moving violations.

Up until a few years ago, my prediction as I approach the car was generally pretty good. Sometimes someone applying makeup or whatever, sometimes just a SHITTY driver, and often a DWI. But now? It's all over the place.

Do you arrest those people that are texting, as they are just as dangerous (if not more dangerous) than a DWI driver?

I wish. It's just a traffic offense here... it's a ticket, not an arrest.

In your view, should states have a tiered system of punishments depending on the level of intoxication? Does it make sense for someone who blows a .08 to be charged with the same crime and face essentially the same punishment as soneone who blows a .17?

Also, what do you think of the laws in parts of Europe where one beer puts you over the limit?

We kind of have that here in LA. Once you hit 0.15 the penalties are worse, and after a 0.20 they are more severe still.

The BAC thing is tough to put into black-and-white standards, though. I've seen people at 0.040 (half the limit) who drive way worse and are way more of a public danger than people at 0.200 (almost triple the limit). Alcohol has different effects on everyone, then adding in what other substances (legal or not, prescribed or not) may be on board... it's tough to have a set of guidelines that just "always work."

Whats your personal opinion on DUI checkpoints?

I think its a bit funny that they always advertise them on the radio 24 hours in advance (required under Ohio law to announce the location and hours in advance).

I don't drink, but whenever I see a DUI checkpoint I avoid it. I see it it as a violation of my 4th amendment rights.

What should we be doing to reduce DUI's?
And how does somebody with 10 DUI's have a liscense?

http://wbay.com/2017/01/02/man-arrested-on-suspicion-of-11th-owi-in-appleton/

The checkpoints are -- generally -- a pain in the ass and yield very few arrests. They're also very controversial, obviously. I think they're kinda in a gray area, but the courts have ruled so they're still in use. We don't use them a WHOLE lot around here, and even then I almost never work them.

Reducing DWIs: this is a hard one. I think a big part of the problem is how they are seen as something less than what they are. People even say "Brad got a DWI" or whatever, instead of "Brad got arrested" or "Brad has a misdemeanor criminal record now." It's almost as if people equate them to being basically the same as a traffic ticket for coasting through a stop sign or whatever.

Also: people think they are EXPERTS in DWI law and how to avoid them. People love to say "you can't get one if _____" or "just do this and you can't be arrested" blah blah. There is a lot of misconception about DWIs overall, and I think it contributes to people's carelessness and stupid decisions.

Ten DWIs: This will be one of those things that really varies a lot by state. But here, only the DWIs in the last ten years can be used against you. That, combined with the fact that maybe some of the priors did not result in conviction, etc. A few years ago, Louisiana really cracked down on DWIs, especially after the first two. A third offense here is a felony and comes with some SERIOUS penalties.

I know you said DWI, but what does marijuana fall under? DUI? Have you ever charged someone with stoned driving?

DWI / DUI / OWI ... all generally the same thing. Maybe in some states they are different.

And yes, a few. It's a pain because we have little physical evidence at the time of the arrest, and we have to wait for lab work on the urine/blood to continue with the case.

What's the funniest story about doing DWI work?

Hmm, I would have a hard time picking THE funniest. But here's A funny one that comes to mind: a woman I arrested asked me to stop at a drive-through daiquiri place on the way to jail so she could have one more daiquiri. She was completely serious and said she had a tab at this particular place so she didn't even need any money. She tried sliding over to the driver's side of the back seat so she would be by the correct window and everything.

(Yes, we have drive-through daiquiri places in Louisiana. it's crazy.)

How is that allowed?!

They put a piece of tape over the straw hole so it isn't an open container until you remove it and put the straw in. haha.

I adopted a baby from southern Louisiana and was blown away by your drive through daiquiri shops. Aren't you fighting an uphill battle? That seems counterintuitive.

We do a little interview with people arrested for DWI, and it includes asking where they had been drinking. Very few of mine have ever said the drive-through daiquiri was their source of alcohol.

But still, crazy.

What advice do you have for a high schooler considering becoming a police officer or state trooper?

Don't start straight into law enforcement unless you are really sure about the career. It's great and I don't mean to discourage anyone, but it's not what most people think, in both good ways and bad.

I'd say get a few years of experience in something else first, and look into the local agency's reserve program if they have one. You can ride and help out on your days off and in your free time; it helps out the full-timers and gives you a good look at law enforcement from the inside to help determine if it's what you want to do.

Some of the best guys I work with have at least a couple years experience in something that isn't law enforcement. A diverse set of perspectives and experiences is a great thing to have in a police force.

Have you ever let anyone off before? Knowing they're intoxicated?

For any reason, gender, attractiveness, or just feeling sorry for them?

Nope.

There have been LOTS of people who have "had a couple beers" or whatever that ultimately get let go. But that's because they aren't so intoxicated that they need to be arrested, not because I feel bad for them... everyone gets the same fair shot at the sobriety tests, etc etc.

I did have some coworkers tell me once they couldn't believe I arrested a particular female because she was so beautiful. I lost a lot of respect for those coworkers that night.

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I don't remember exactly, but it was 0.325 or something like that. I've heard stories from people who had close to 0.400 but I've never seen that high, personally.

Yikes. At what level does a person die? (I heard it was .3 but I guess that source was wrong.)

We've had a lot at and above a 0.3... it's not death, but certainly near it for a lot of people. Once people hit a 0.3 we have to stop all testing, all paperwork, etc and get them medical attention immediately.

I'll be honest, I fucked up very recently, Thanksgiving at 4:30 AM getting home from the night before. I went over a roundabout instead of around it, totaling my cheap car in the process. I've never done anything like this before, no criminal history whatsoever.

Phone was dead, and my only options were to wait or run. I waited, and the cops were the first car to pass about 10 minutes later. They stopped and took me to the station for DUI. I blew over a 0.1

I got a lawyer, thanks to the help of my guardians, as I am only 20 years old. The lawyer said I'm essentially fucked, and said that best case scenario is that I "get away" with reckless endangerment.

I had not received paperwork regarding the DUI, until about three weeks later the police had taped it to my front door, past the time to file for a hearing. My lawyer applied for a late hearing request.

To our surprise, the paperwork was never filed with the DoL, thus there was no record of the biggest fuckup of my life. My lawyer said that sometimes cops do this with kids who clearly made a mistake and have no criminal history. Unfortunately, the DoL wants to look into it, so it could go either way.

My question to you: Do you see this often? How do you feel about it? Have you ever let someone off the hook for a crime so serious? Hypothetically, if you didn't file with the DoL, could you get in legal trouble?

I've heard of the state losing some of our DWI packets before, but I've never heard of it being lost accidentally-on-purpose. We have an electronic DWI system now, so license suspensions are done VERY quickly and the DMV has all the info they need.

I've never let anyone off for a DWI.

and hypothetically, probably! If I intentionally didn't do part of the required stuff I could certainly get in trouble. Not sure to what extent, but I don't want to find out :)

How do you deal (or what are your thoughts) with cops that you know are corrupt, or at least careless and/or some what "dirty", examples being like letting a woman go because she's attractive (like you stated above), or taking contraband for personal gain, etc. I would imagine that it would be difficult to keep your mouth shut. But also would not be the easiest thing to go rat someone out. Especially considering there won't always be repercussions because of how the "inside" works, right? Thanks for doing this!

The example I used above about letting the pretty female go would be an example of a shitty use of discretion, but not illegal.

Taking contraband for personal gain is straight up illegal though. Luckily I've never witnessed that or heard of it, but I'd go straight to our IA people if so!

Should I refuse the breathalyzer to protect myself if I'm accused of reckless driving?

People are always telling me to refuse the breathalyzer so you have to get the test done at the station with witnesses. Their logic is that if you aren't even intoxicated the officer can lie about the reading on the breathalyzer as an excuse to take you in and if he asked you to blow he already made up his mind anyways and is going to take you to the station no matter what you blow.

Not a career drunk driver or anything, I just know some cops like to abuse their power and reach quotas.

We don't have portable breathalyzers here. The only ones we use are the big ones at the office, and that's just post-arrest evidence. Louisiana is an implied consent state, so when you sign to get your driver's license, you're agreeing to any chemical tests directed by LEOs if you are detained/arrested for DWI. You have the right to refuse here, but then I have the right to get a search warrant for your blood.

And yes, the abuse is real in far too many places. I don't think it's quite as prevalent as some people suspect, but it's certainly more than most cops are willing to consider. We're not beyond reproach, but too many of us think that any tiny amount of criticism = OMG I HATE THE POLICE. x_x

Quotas are illegal in Louisiana, but I wouldn't be surprised if some po-dunk agencies have unofficial ones.

IF Law enforcement is truly concerned about public safety, why not just park outside of bars and pull anyone over that drives away from the bar?

It's not necessarily illegal but it taints the whole arrest. I don't want it to look like I started off assuming someone was drunk just because of where they walked out of. I start off (and remain) as an objective observer when I see whatever violation people get pulled over for, and build my case from there.

Prosecutor here- What annoys you the most about dealing with prosecutors (generally) but it can be about DWI's if you prefer....?

I have to say I am VERY lucky to work in the area I do. Our prosecutors and court system are generally awesome and it feels a bit wrong to complain at all. However, since you asked: receiving super-last-minute notification of being needed for a trial or motions hearing or whatever... then being told after I get there that I'm no longer needed. I know some of it is out of the prosecutor's control, but good lord, it's so annoying.

What's your opinion on gun control?

Depends on what you call gun control. I'm all about closing The Loophole and having some common-sense safeguards in place to help prevent guns from getting into wrong hands. Beyond that, I don't know.

I'm certainly not as extreme as so many others in my profession, who seem to think guns should be a commodity like milk that you can just grab off the shelf.

Do you ever worry about the next generation not wanting to become police officers, and thus losing a good pool of talent? I work closely with police at my job and think they are some of the finest people I've met; I sometimes wonder if teenagers whom otherwise would be considering a career in the field would be scared away with the negative publicity? Thanks, and great job by the way.

I've never really thought about it! I think the people who would be potential candidates are probably less affected by the extreme hatred of police a lot of people have these days. I don't even think that's all that many people overall, to be honest. Just like bad cops just being more newsworthy, so too are the vocal minority who sometimes (NOT ALWAYS, PEOPLE, calm down) are too quick to judge whenever a controversial incident happens and a hastily-edited video clip gets uploaded.

At any rate, we certainly have no shortage of applications coming in.

Do you think driverless cars will reduce dwis? Or cause people to get more drunk when they go out

This is one of those things I've been wondering about. It's going to be very interesting to see how driverless cars impact traffic/criminal laws in general, including DWI laws.

I'm not sure if it will reduce DWIs since I don't know what will count as DWI in those cars. I'm sure more people will be getting drunk though, because people will generally use anything as a reason.

Wouldnt it essentially be the same as riding intoxicated like if you took a taxi home from a bar?

I could see open containers and drinking while riding still happening.

"'I'm sure more people will be getting drunk though, because people will generally use anything as a reason."

^ ain't that the truth.

The important part of the law is having "physical control" over the vehicle. Even if it's doing most of the leg work, someone is still pressing buttons telling it to do whatever. And I suppose the argument can be made that the "driver" or operator or whatever should be in a sober state to be able to react to unexpected road conditions or that asshole in the BMW that always comes out of fucking nowhere.

I would hope for fully autonomous cars there is no laws on BAC, because that would reduce the incentive for people to use them.

For fully autonomous cars, maybe. But I'd imagine there's always a way to override and take manual control. Not sure. I guess we'll have to see what the future brings. :o

As a person not living in US, i always wondered about the "walk nine steps" test. Why not just ask the driver to blow into the device, and know the level of intoxication right away? So could you explain, when do you pull the alko-meter out, and when do you just do the "9 steps" test ?

Here in Louisiana, we don't use portable breathalyzers. The probable cause for the arrest is built from the violation for which you were stopped, personal clues (breath, speech, eyes, etc), the sobriety tests, etc. You don't blow in Louisiana until you get to the office and are already under arrest... the BAC is post-arrest evidence.

Do you think that's successful? How long does it usually take from the time of arrest to getting them back to the station to blow? The alcohol level is obviously going to decrease.

It's usually not too long. From time of stop to the time they blow on the machine at the office is generally 45 minutes ish for me. Some people have been drinking right up until the moment they were pulled over and it's obvious their BAC is still climbing throughout my interaction with them.

I've recently read of a device that's like a breathalyzer for THC. Have you heard of this or read any literature on it?

I haven't heard anything about this. When we have weed DWIs, we do blood work to get evidence. It's a pain.

How do you use blood tests to determine inebriation? Every day smokers will have a high concentration of THC in their blood even if their last toke was 2, 8, 16, 24 hours prior...

Exactly. It's such an aggravation. There needs to be a more definite method.

so I don't know what part of the country you work in, or if you're a football fan, but I've got 2 questions-

Assuming you've seen the Michael Floyd videos, where does that rank on your all time most wasted driver ever?

And have you ever personally encountered a public figure and had to give them a DUI/DWI?

here is a link to that Floyd video I was talking about. I remember seeing a lot of different ones in the NFL sub's post about the matter, but I'm not digging through all that to find them.... I think this should be sufficient.

I'm not a football fan and I'm in southeastern Louisiana.

I've arrested cops for DWI before, not sure if that counts as public figure. But never any celebrities or political figureheads or whatever. Most of them seem to be smart enough to have drivers.

I've seen people at Floyd level of DWI and way beyond. People passed out behind the wheel, or falling out of their open driver door while the car is still driving down the road, or causing horrific accidents all while completely passed out.

What's the scariest thing you've experienced as a police officer? Also, what's your favourite cop movie?

Dude pointing a gun at me. His mom jumped in front of him as I was starting to pull the trigger. He lowered the gun.

Umm. I don't watch a whole lot of cop movies or TV shows. I see enough of the real shit every day, I don't need to see the hollywood version. Ride Along was pretty funny I guess.

Have you ever had do to a full body search on anyone? I really don't envy any police people who have had to do that it sounds like my worst nightmare.

Yes. ::shudders::

It's always THE grossest people we have to search. Luckily it's not like, all the time or anything, but you would not believe what we've recovered from where.... o_o;;;

What have u recovered:)

bags of drugs, knives, a samsung galaxy s4 cell phone, sex toys, a chip clip... the list goes on and on

edit: also one time exactly $2,000 cash

A chip clip huh?

yup, not one of the huge ones. but still big enough

Is it true that law enforcement will only ever interview you when they are in need of evidence to be able to charge you? If so then what does anyone ever possibly have to gain by co-operating in an interview?

We interview people all the time for all kinds of reasons. Suspects, victims, witnesses, relatives, employers, whatever.

Have you had to deal with people who are deathly afraid of needles when blood testing for evidence? How do you deal with that?

Yes. Overall I've had to get blood on fairly few people. But some of them have been afraid and/or resistant to the max. We do our best to calm them down and help them through it, but at some point our evidence will fade away and we need to get it sooner rather than later. Most people do okay, even if they aren't happy throughout the process.

We work with the nurses/hospital staff to hold down the combative ones. Luckily there have been VERY few of those.

Have you ever been asked for favors by the lady folk you're arresting? Aka sexy time if you let me go

Yes, I had one lady grab my shit and tell me "I really don't want to get a ticket, big boy." Others have offered money, and others have threatened to withhold lifesaving medical care if I ever ended up in their operating room. Classy people.

"withhold lifesaving medical care if I ever ended up in their operating room."

I believe that's known as the Hypocritic Oath.

snerk yep

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I'm not sure what you mean, but I wrote this down to Google a bit later. And I'm glad Joe is gone!

Hello, Thanks for taking the time to do this. What percentage would you say your dui arrests are for substances other then alcohol as opposed to alcohol?

D you have any sort of system to test the level of intoxication for other drugs besides alcohol?

Do you like to get wet?

Hmmm. I'd say less than 10%. There are some where I've kind of suspected it was alcohol + _____ substance, but if the BAC is high enough it's not generally necessary to get urine/blood for further testing.

And nope, not really. We have DREs who can help us determine that yes, this person is likely on ____ type of drug. But in terms of actual levels, we have to send urine/blood and wait.

Have you ever watched "Steven Seagal: Lawman"? https://g.co/kgs/J6xOGJ

If so what are your thoughts of the depiction of Louisiana in the show from a law enforcement point of view?

I've seen a combined total of about 10 minutes of that show and it's laughably bad. It seems like 99% of depictions of Louisiana in tv and movies show the stupidest and most backwards parts of the state and its people. No wonder people think we ride alligators down bayous to get to work and don't know how to read.

In your experience, have you seen any pattern in people who have received up 3 DWIs? Is it common to see people get a 4th felony charge?

The only pattern I've seen is that people with multiple DWIs tend to have their first two in very quick succession. I arrested a woman once for her second DWI nine days after her first.

I've seen 4th and beyond. Some people are beyond help it seems.

How often do you get in physical altercations while arresting someone?(resisting arrest)

It's been very few over the years. I'm very fortunate to be a BIG, generally scary looking guy, so people tend to do as they are told.

But overall, yes, very few uses of force, and I'm proud of that. I do my best to calm situations down, not escalate them. I'm not out here to get into a use of force, and neither are most of my coworkers, honestly.

What is the worst excuse that you have received from a person that obviously broke the law?

Like I said in another comment, it's hard to pick a number one anything with SO much material to pick from... but a good one that comes to mind quickly is a woman who was driving in circles over and over again on a multi-lane highway. She was SUPER obviously completely hammered but said the reason she was going in circles was because she was on her way out to the club and realized her shoes didn't match her purse or something like that. So she decided to turn around, but then turned around again when she decided to say "fuck matching". And over and over again with different realizations over whether or not she should go home or just continue to the club.

there are soooo many.

What are your feelings on check points vs. actively driving the streets. I know you answered your feelings on the checkpoints themselves already. Also have you ever had anyone pass the field sobriety portion of a stop but still blew or had a blood test over the legal amount?

I do the actively driving the streets part a lot. I think it is more successful and leads to fewer potential constitutional challenges.

We don't use roadside breathalyzers here, so if someone does well on the SFST they're probably going to be driving away and not arrested. By the time you get to the machine in Louisiana, you're already under arrest.

I have had PLENTY of people (read: functional alcoholics) who do fairly well on the walk-and-turn and one-leg-stand portions of the SFST, but their eyes are allllll fucked up. The eyes never lie.

In your opinion, are your local punishments for DUI too harsh/too lenient?

I think they're about right, here. I'm all about people getting an appropriately lenient-ish punishment for their first offense. Hopefully they turn things around and avoid bad decisions in the future.

After that though? Fuck em. Here, you get one more misdemeanor, but a third offense is a felony. Seems okay to me.

Some people criticize Wisconsin for being way to lenient. 1st offense is a municple. 2nd is a mis. And I think the 3rd just became a felony 4th is felony. I think with there dwi taskforces and the expansion of ride shares or cheaper alternatives to taxis has helped lower dwi here.

Municipal (city) police departments may have the option to prosecute a misdemeanor DWI through their court instead of the "big" state court, if that city has a DWI ordinance. But at least here in Louisiana, it's still a misdemeanor, still counts as a previous offense in the future, etc. etc. It's just handled through a different court system.

If I told you what is the punishment in Russia, how would you compare it?

• First offence: up to $500 fine, mandatory 18 months suspension (as in, the judge has no discretion whatsoever)

• Second offence: same fine, 2 years suspension

• If second offence is within a certain time from the first one, you get criminally prosecuted and can get up to 2 years behind bars

Is it scarier than in LA?

DWI is always a criminal offense here. It's a misdemeanor for first and second offenses, third and subsequent are felony offenses.

And in terms of a driver's license suspension.... 1st offense = 90 days suspension if you blow over the limit, one year suspension if you refuse. suspensions are higher for higher BACs. after that it gets worse for second offense and beyond. if you get caught driving on a DWI-suspended license, you get arrested again, not just a ticket.

What made you get into the law enforcement career, or how did you end up working in the DWI section?

I actually don't work in a particular "DWI section"... we don't have one of those. I'm a regular patrol cop who responds to all the usual stuff, but in terms of my proactive work between calls, I do a lot of DWI work.

I kinda fell into law enforcement after doing some admin work for a law enforcement agency. I started doing it part-time and on my weekends and eventually started full-time.

Do you work in an area where Uber/Lyft or a similar ride share company operates? If so, has this cut down on DWI's? If not, can you see any negatives to using this service instead of drunk driving?

Yup, Uber and Lyft are both here. I don't have any actual data to back it up, but I'm sure it's caused a lot more people to make better decisions. We probably have the same number of arrests, though, because we're just finding the OTHER people who may have gotten away with it in the pre-Uber days.

Have you ever arrested anybody you know?

Nope, but I've definitely arrested some people multiple times over the years. So I guess I "know" them. but not the way you mean.