Posts Tagged ‘Police officer’

A DUI increases suicide risk

Friday, September 30th, 2011

Image by FrogMiller via Flickr

A 41-year-old veteran San Diego Police Officer, David Hall, committed suicide.  He had been battling alcoholism and was depressed because he believed he would lose his job for a DUI hit and run crash he was involved in earlier this year.

In the report, investigators say Officer Hall was specifically worried about an upcoming hearing regarding his DUI case.

And before his suicide he didnt leave behind a note. In fact, he didnt give his wife Michelle or three kids any indication he was about to shoot himself in the backyard.

Which he did at about 9:40 in the morning, as his kids slept inside their Linda Vista home.

He was found by his wife who heard the gunshot as she was about to drive off to work.

The report also shows Officer Hall had quit drinking for five months following his DUI crash, but for some reason he relapsed shortly before his suicide.

“More people commit suicide after a DUI arrest than any other kind of arrest including rape-murder, said Psychiatrist Dr. Clark Smith, who believes Officer Halls relapse played a big role in his suicide.

“Often people who are very depressed drink a lot more and both factors increase suicide risk, Clark said.

Michelle agreed that the DUI played a major role in her husbands suicide.

“We went through such a tremendous ordeal in the last seven months, she said. “He knew what he did was wrong with the DUI and he was trying to fix his life by going to Alcoholics Anonymous, and in the end he felt like he had no other option.

Michelle also blames her husbands suicide on certain members of the media who she says hounded her family about the DUI case.

And she blames the D-As office saying, “I think the District Attorney was out to make an example of him. Sad.  But as a Los Angeles DUI lawyer, I see this too often.

Related articles

• News links: Philadelphia woman gets $12,000 gas bill; Pennsylvania liquor enforcement officer charged with DUI in Pittsburgh (pennlive.com)
• San Diego Police Officer Commits Suicide After Being Charged with Hit-And-Run (laist.com)
• Liquor Board Enforcement Agent Arrested For DUI (inquisitr.com)

Posts Tagged ‘Police officer’

A DUI increases suicide risk

Friday, September 30th, 2011

Image via Wikipedia

Our Los Angeles DUI Lawyers have learned that actress Estella Warren has received what the Australian press is calling the “DUI Plea Deal of the Century”

The Planet of the Apes star allegedly crashed into three cars, attacked a police officer and then escaped custody while she was being booked back in May.

She was recaptured and charged with DUI, hit-and-run driving, battery on a cop and resisting arrest.

But Warren has avoided possible jail time after striking a deal with Los Angeles City prosecutors.

According to TMZ.com, she has agreed to plead guilty to DUI and the remaining three charges against her have been dropped.

Warren has also been sentenced to 60 months of summary probation and ordered to pay over $US1900 ($A1838) in costs and penalties.

And the actress tells the gossip site she’s glad to put the case to rest.

“I take my actions and their consequences very seriously. I can’t express enough how grateful I am that no one was injured or hurt. Moving forward I am focusing all my efforts on my career, my family and being a good influence to others.”

That’s fairly good, but not the deal of the century.  Los Angeles DUI cases are a little more negotiable than those in Orange County.

Related articles

• Celebrity DUI Review (ocduiblog.com)
• Estella Warren Pleads No Contest to DUI (eonline.com)
• Actress Estella Warren pleads no contest to DUI (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Actress Estella Warren Pleads No Contest to DUI (abcnews.go.com)

Posts Tagged ‘Police officer’

A DUI increases suicide risk

Friday, September 30th, 2011

Image via Wikipedia

Our Orange County DUI lawyers have learned that Andrew Bremer, an Orange police officer, was awarded the 2010 Cavanaugh Award on March 3 at the 24th annual MADD Orange County Law Enforcement and Prosecutor Recognition Luncheon.

The Cavanaugh Award is presented to the officer who makes the most DUI arrests for the year in Orange County.

Last year, Bremer arrested 309 offenders who were driving under the influence in the city of Orange, which is the most by an individual officer in Orange County in 2010.

The Orange Police Department made 1,091 DUI arrests in 2010, said Sgt. Dan Adams, public information officer for the department.

The department has been home to a couple of state record holders in the past five years.

In 2006, Officer Armando Plascencia set the state record at 325 DUI arrests.

In 2007, Officer Kirk Salmon set a new record with a total of 341 arrests. The record was surpassed in 2007 and is still held by a Huntington Beach police officer.

Bremer has been a police officer with the department for 4 ½ years. He has been assigned to the DUI team since July 2009.

Many other officers, as well as prosecutors from the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, were also recognized for their outstanding efforts in combating drunken driving.

Other officers from the Orange Police Department who were recognized this year include Officer Justin McGowan, Officer Kevin Plog, Officer Steven Jenks, Motor Officer Martin Suarez, Officer Michael Osborn, Officer Armando Plascencia and Officer Kirk Salmon.

Posts Tagged ‘Police officer’

A DUI increases suicide risk

Friday, September 30th, 2011

Last night I went to a demonstration and fundraiser for a new dog for the Fullerton Police Department.  Fullerton lost their K-9 unit When it comes to a sense of duty, pound for pound, they have no equal.

They never hesitate to chase down bad guys;  when they start barking orders, you can bet crooks listen;  and when their shift is over, all they ask is a little kibble and a game of catch.

“They” are the members of the Fullerton Police Department’s K-9 Corps and they are valuable tools in the department’s mission to protect and serve the citizens of Fullerton.

But today, the department’s two-dog K-9 team is down one:  “Officer” Jager, a German shepherd, has retired from an impressive tour of duty with his human counterparts, leaving only “Officer” Blitz available to help patrol the mean streets of Fullerton.

“The K-9s are valuable resources for the department, especially in the area of officer protection,” said Police Chief Michael Sellers.  “It definitely impacts our operations to be down one dog.”

Sellers said Jager’s absence will especially impact the department’s narcotics enforcement efforts as he was cross-trained to sniff out drugs.  The Chief noted that in Jager’s three years on the job, he helped with hundreds of drug searches and with the arrests of numerous suspects for drug violations.

Sellers said Jager was also instrumental in helping officers search and locate suspects in shootings and assaults, as well as with countless residential and business alarm calls.

With the current economic downtown impacting municipal budgets, the Police Department does not have the funds available to replace Jager.  Sellers said the department is hoping citizens will step forward, as they have in the past, and donate toward the purchase of a new dog for the department.

A fund has been set up and donations may be sent to the Fullerton Police Department at 237 W. Commonwealth Ave., Fullerton, CA 92832.  Checks should be made payable to the City of Fullerton, with the words “Police K-9 Program” in the check notation box.

Further information about the K-9 fund-raising effort may be obtained by calling Sgt. Andrew Goodrich of the Fullerton Police Department at (714) 738-6838, or by email at AGoodrich@fpd.org.

Posts Tagged ‘Police officer’

A DUI increases suicide risk

Friday, September 30th, 2011

As Orange County DUI Lawyers, we get lots of press releases, and this one I was tempted to write off as an April Fool’s Joke.  Federal funds to the police department for snarling up traffic with a fake DUI accident?  Here’s the release sent to us:

On Thursday April 1 and Friday April 2, 2010, the Fountain Valley Police Department and Fountain Valley High School will present the “Every Fifteen Minutes” program to the junior and senior classes. This two-day program focuses on personal safety, drinking and driving and the potential consequences of poor decision-making. The program name was derived from statistics which show that approximately every 15 minutes someone in the United States dies or is seriously injured in an alcohol related traffic accident. The goal of the program is to reduce alcohol related traffic collisions in our community. The “Every 15 Minutes” program is presented prior to spring break, prom and graduation ceremonies, which makes it a timely event.

On Thursday, April 1st at 10:15 a.m., a fatal alcohol related traffic accident will be re-enacted. This will take place at Bushard and El Camino streets in front of Fountain Valley High School. The Fountain Valley Police and Fire Departments, Orange County Coroner’s office, C.A.R.E. Ambulance and other agencies will participate in the re-enactment. The injured parties will be transported to a local hospital and the fatality will be transported to the Coroner’s Office. The person responsible for the accident will be arrested and booked at the Fountain Valley Police Department.

Prior to the traffic accident re-enactment, 27 students will be removed from classes by the Grim Reaper at 15-minute intervals. The Grim Reaper will appear in classrooms around the campus and a Police Officer and a Police Chaplain will read the mock obituaries for the ‘living dead’. As this occurs on campus Police Officers and a Police Chaplain will deliver death notifications to the parents of the victims. Although the parents know that this is a staged event the emotional impact of the notifications has proved to be overwhelming to those involved.

On Friday, April 2nd at 9:15 a.m. a school assembly will take place. The entire junior and senior class will be involved. Gary Zelesky, a nationally known motivational speaker will address the students. Police Chief Paul A. Sorrell will also be present. There will be a video presentation of the events surrounding the traffic accident from the day prior. The ‘living dead’, as the accident victims are referred to, will be reunited with their families and several of them will speak at the assembly. This has proven to be another very emotionally charged part of the program.

Due to street closures in the area of this event it is recommended that the press arrive 30 minutes prior to the beginning of the program.

Sergeant Eric Orahood

(714) 593-4472

*Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Posts Tagged ‘Police officer’

A DUI increases suicide risk

Friday, September 30th, 2011

The big story this week was the two police officers with multiple Orange County DUI cases.   The following is my mix of stories from the OC Register, OC Weekly, and other sources:

Anaheim police officer Kevin Noel Schlueter was charged today with driving under the influence of drugs after crashing into four parked cars. It’s the 37-year-old Costa Mesa resident’s third DUI, and not to be confused with the DUI charge brought against Orange County sheriff’s deputy Mark Wayne Hewlett, who is accused of being drunk, losing control of his car and crashing into a planter in the front yard of Orange County Supervisor Bill Campbell‘s Villa Park home.

Both cops were driving their own cars, not police cruisers.

In the first DUI case against Schlueter, he is accused of driving erratically and weaving through lanes on the 405 freeway near Westminster Boulevard while under the influence of drugs at about 9:30 p.m. on March 18, 2009. A witness called 9-1-1, and Schlueter nearly crashed into other cars on the road, including a California Highway Patrol vehicle that responded to the call.

Schlueter showed signs of drug intoxication once he was pulled over, including shaking hands, red and watery eyes, slurred speech, and lethargic appearance, according to the CHP report. He was allegedly under the influence of the prescription drugs hydrocodone, hydromorphone, phenmetrazine, phendimetrazine and carisoprodol.

The Orange County District Attorney’s Office (OCDA) charged Schlueter on Sept. 1, 2009, with one misdemeanor count of driving under the influence of drugs.

At about 9:30 p.m. on Jan. 21, 2010, Schlueter is accused of driving on Oakridge Lane in Huntington Beach while impaired and under the influence of drugs. His car crashed through the back yard fence of a residence, and when officers arrived, he was still sitting in the driver’s seat with the engine running.

Again, cops say he showed signs of drug intoxication, including slurred speech, a lack of coordination, and a lack of balance. He was allegedly under the influence of hydrocodone, hydromorphone, meprobamate and carisoprodol.

The OCDA on Friday charged Schlueter with one misdemeanor count of driving under the influence of drugs in the second case.

Finally, Schlueter was driving on Cabrillo Street in Costa Mesa at about 1:40 p.m. on March 2 when his car crashed into three parked cars. He is accused of then reversing his vehicle–and crashing into a fourth parked car.

This happened outside an ambulance company, and a witness at the company put Schlueter in the back of an ambulance until Costa Mesa police officers arrived at the scene.

Cops say he had red and watery eyes and was incoherent and lethargic. He is accused of being under the influence of phentermine, carisoprodol and oxycodone.

Sounds like a certain Orange County police agency better check its drug evidence locker.

Schlueter was charged today with one misdemeanor count of driving under the influence of drugs. He could get up to two years and six months in jail if he is convicted of all three offenses, according to the OCDA.

He is scheduled to appear Friday at West Justice Center in Westminster for a pre-trial hearing for the 2009 case and arraignment for the two 2010 cases.

SANTA ANA – An Anaheim police officer resigned Tuesday amid a department investigation and after being charged with driving under the influence of a cocktail of prescription drugs for the third time in less than a year.

The officer, who hasn’t been to work since late 2008 but remained on paid administrative leave, has pleaded not guilty in one case of driving under the influence from an incident last March. The two latest charges were filed last week and Tuesday.

Kevin Noel Schlueter, 37, of Costa Mesa, is charged in three separate cases with one misdemeanor count of driving under the influence of drugs for each case.

Schlueter’s three DUI arrests were first revealed earlier this month by the Register.

If convicted in all three cases, Schlueter faces up to two years and six months behind bars. Schlueter is scheduled to appear in court Friday.

Schlueter had been on leave since November 2008 for what department spokesman Sgt. Rick Martinez said was “a variety of reasons.” Personnel rules prohibit him from giving specifics, Martinez said.

Schlueter’s leave had been unpaid at first. But then in November 2009, months after Schlueter’s first DUI arrest, Anaheim officials put him on paid administrative leave.

After Schlueter’s arrests were publicized by the Register, Anaheim police issued a statement saying:

“The Anaheim Police Department is cooperating with the OC District Attorney’s office in its prosecution of these cases and we have contacted the Department of Motor Vehicles regarding the officer’s future driving privileges. We are also expediting our internal investigation into this matter in order to reach a decision concerning the officer’s employment as soon as possible.”

Schlueter resigned from the department Tuesday, Martinez said.

Schlueter’s trouble behind the wheel appears to have started on March 18, 2009, when he was pulled over by the California Highway Patrol after nearly slamming into a CHP squad car. Several drivers had called 911 to report a possible DUI driver at the wheel of a silver Chevy Tahoe on the 405 freeway that night, said CHP Officer Ray Payton.

Dispatchers sent a CHP officer ahead of the possible drunken driver weaving in the slow lane to wait for him to drive by, according to the report. The Tahoe drove by – careening onto the right shoulder of the freeway and coming within a foot of hitting the waiting CHP squad car, the report said.

The officer watched as the Tahoe weaved from side to side, nearly colliding with a Range Rover. The CHP officer pulled the Tahoe over and after doing field sobriety tests on the driver, later identified as Schlueter, arrested him, according to the CHP report.

According to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, Schlueter is accused of displaying signs of drug intoxication including “shaking hands, red and watery eyes, slurred speech, and appeared lethargic.” Prosecutors accuse Schlueter of being under the influence of prescription drugs that impaired his ability to drive including hydrocodone, hydromorphone, phenmetrazine, phendimetrazine, and carisoprodol.

Someone came to pick up Schlueter at the CHP office. On Sept. 1, 2009 prosecutors filed one misdemeanor count of driving under the influence. Schlueter pleaded not guilty.

On Jan. 21 prosecutors say Schlueter was driving on Oakridge Lane in Huntington Beach around 9:30 p.m. when he crashed his car through the backyard fence of a home. He sat in the driver’s seat with the engine running until Huntington Beach police showed up, according to prosecutors.

Again Schlueter is accused of showing signs of being under the influence of drugs, including “slurred speech, a lack of coordination, and a lack of balance.” According to prosecutors, he is accused of being under the influence of prescription drugs that impaired his ability to drive including hydrocodone, hydromorphone, meprobamate, and carisoprodol.

Schlueter was arrested and later released. Last week prosecutors charged Schlueter with one misdemeanor count of driving under the influence of drugs.

On March 2, Schlueter was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence after crashing a 2010 Jeep Liberty into four parked cars on his own street in Costa Mesa in the middle of the afternoon.

According to prosecutors, Schlueter crashed into three parked cars, reversed his Jeep, and crashed into a fourth parked car while backing up.

The crashes ripped the right wheel off the axle of Schlueter’s Liberty, according to Costa Mesa police Lt. Rob Sharpnack. The Liberty also suffered rear bumper damage, Sharpnack said.

An employee of an ambulance company saw the accidents and put the injured Schlueter in the back of the ambulance and waited for Costa Mesa police officers to arrive, according to prosecutors.

Again, according to prosecutors, Schlueter showed “objective” signs of drug intoxication including “having red and watery eyes and being incoherent and lethargic.” He is accused of being under the influence of prescription drugs that impaired his ability to drive including phentermine, carisoprodol, and oxycodone.

Schlueter was treated at the hospital for his injuries and released. On Tuesday, prosecutors charged him with one misdemeanor count of driving under the influence of drugs – his third such charge in less than a year.

An Anaheim police officer who lives in Costa Mesa is accused of driving under the influence of prescription drugs three times in the last year, with his latest alleged incident happening in Costa Mesa last week.

Kevin Noel Schlueter, 37, faces three misdemeanor DUI charges. He has already pleaded not guilty to an alleged DUI in March 2009, when prosecutors said he nearly hit a California Highway Patrol car on the 405 Freeway in Westminster.

In January of this year, prosecutors said Schlueter crashed his car into the backyard of a home in Huntington Beach and sat in his car until police arrived. In that case, he was also under the influence of prescription drugs, authorities said.

The officer’s most recent arrest came Thursday in Costa Mesa, where he’s accused of hitting four cars while again under the influence of prescription drugs.

Schlueter is scheduled to be arraigned for the two most recent arrests Friday. He faces up to two years and six months in jail if convicted on all charges.

Related articles

• Puck Was Driving Drunk At The Time Of His Accident!! (perezhilton.com)
• Superintendent issues apology for DUI arrest (theolympian.com)
• 14 arrested during DUI emphasis patrol (theolympian.com)

Posts Tagged ‘Police officer’

A DUI increases suicide risk

Friday, September 30th, 2011

The OC Watchdog Blog, part of the Orange County Register, has an interesting story – about the police officer that got three DUIs, and is still on the police payroll!  As an Orange County DUI Lawyer, it pains me to see how the police have a double standard when it comes to their own.

It’s no secret that some cops have a problem with alcohol.  It’s a stressful occupation, the hours are long, and the job wreaks havoc with home life.  As well, it’s easy for cops to get hurt on the job — making addiction to prescription painkillers another problem.

All that said, we were taken aback by the tales of officers’ DUI that came flooding in after we wrote last week about an Orange County Sheriff’s deputy who was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence after crashing twice in less than 35 minutes.  (Cops from his own department had let him drive away after the first accident.)

That was bad, but this might be worse:

It’s the story of an Anaheim cop who hasn’t been to work since late 2008, is still on the department’s payroll, and notched his third DUI arrest in less than a year March 2.

The Watchdog pulled the records and confirmed that Officer Kevin Noel Schlueter, 37, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence after crashing a 2010 Jeep Liberty into four parked cars – on his very own street in Costa Mesa, in the middle of the afternoon.

The crashes ripped the right wheel off the axle of Schlueter’s Liberty, according to Costa Mesa police Lt. Rob Sharpnack. The Liberty also suffered rear bumper damage, Sharpnack said.

Costa Mesa police officers arrested Schlueter on suspicion of driving under the influence and took him to the hospital to be treated for minor injuries, Sharpnack said. He gave a blood sample, but the results aren’t back yet.

That DUI arrest was strike three for Schlueter, a 13-year veteran of the Anaheim Police Department.  But cops play by different rules, as we shall see, and three strikes don’t always mean you’re out.

Schlueter’s troubled times behind the wheel appear to have started on March 18, 2009 when Schlueter was pulled over by the California Highway Patrol after nearly slamming into a CHP squad car.  Several drivers had called 911 to report a possible DUI driver at the wheel of a Silver Chevy Tahoe on the 405 freeway that night, said CHP Officer Ray Payton.

Dispatchers sent a CHP officer ahead of the possible drunken driver weaving in the slow lane to wait for him to drive by, according to the report.  The Tahoe did indeed drive by – careening onto the right shoulder of the freeway and coming within a foot of hitting the waiting CHP squad car, the report said.

The officer watched as the Tahoe weaved from side to side, nearly colliding with a Range Rover. The CHP officer pulled the Tahoe over and after doing field sobriety tests on the driver, later identified as Schlueter, arrested him on suspicion of driving under the influence.

Alcohol was ruled out, Payton said, but drugs, which can include prescription drugs, were not. Someone came to pick up Schlueter at the CHP office. Prosecutors filed one misdemeanor count of driving under the influence. Schlueter pleaded not guilty.

While waiting for the wheels of justice to turn, Schlueter was arrested twice more.

Officers responding to a single-car wreck in Huntington Beach the night of Jan. 21 arrested Schlueter on suspicion of driving under the influence, said Lt. Russell Reinhart of Huntington Beach. Prosecutors have not yet filed charges against Schuleter in the Huntington Beach case, but detectives there say they have a court date with Schlueter March 26.

Then on March 2 came the Costa Mesa wreck, at 1:42 p.m. on Schlueter’s own street.

Schlueter has been on leave since November 2008, for what exactly Anaheim officials aren’t saying.   Anaheim police spokesman Sgt. Rick Martinez characterized it as “a variety of reasons,”  but said that personnel rules prohibit him from giving specifics.

Schlueter’s leave had been unpaid at first. But then in November 2009, months after Schlueter’s first DUI arrest Anaheim officials put him on paid administrative leave and he started earning a paycheck again.

Again, Anaheim officials aren’t saying why.

UPDATE: After this column was published, Anaheim PD called and asked us to include this statement: “The Anaheim Police Department is cooperating with the OC District Attorney’s office in its prosecution of these cases and we have contacted the Department of Motor Vehicles regarding the officer’s future driving privileges. We are also expediting our internal investigation into this matter in order to reach a decision concerning the officer’s employment as soon as possible. ”

Schlueter declined to comment through his attorney Joseph P. Smith. None of his cases have been adjudicated.

We put a call in to a residential treatment facility in Palm Springs that deals with cops’ addictions to alcohol and painkillers to get some perspective on what seems a pretty big problem.

Dr. Krista Gilbert of Michael’s House, told us that in her 15 years in dealing with police officers she has learned “one of the things that is reinforced in departments is that if you cry, you’re a sissy. They aren’t getting the support or validation to deal with the extreme situations and intense situations they see and are living through on a daily basis.

“Its vicarious trauma that they are dealing with,” Gilbert said. “You put up a good show, you’re a good soldier and you do your job no matter what.”

Self-medication with alcohol or prescription medications can also be a way of  covering up other issues like depression or extreme anxiety, Gilbert said.  “A lot of time we find people saying, ‘I’m doing self-care….This is for me.’ ”

That’s good perspective on the personal problems that some cops face.

Still, it seems to us at The Watchdog that after a peace officer gets three DUI strikes, he or she ought to be out.

We’ll keep an eye on this case and let you know what happens.

Related articles

• Is it illegal to sleep drunk in a parked car? (seattlepi.com)
• Rules must change to avoid another case like Maurice Clemmons (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Texting/phoning drivers meet ghostly end (trueslant.com)

Posts Tagged ‘Police officer’

A DUI increases suicide risk

Friday, September 30th, 2011

The Costa Mesa Police Department will conduct a sobriety and driver’s license checkpoint on Monday, Marc 1 st , from 5:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m., on Harbor Boulevard at Fair Drive.  Officers will  screen  drivers  passing  through  the  checkpoint  for  sobriety  and  for  a  valid  driver’s  license.  Drivers found to be under the influence of alcohol or other drugs will be arrested, and unlicensed
drivers may be cited and have their cars towed.

DUI Checkpoints are not an effective way to accomplish the goal of public safety, but they are a cash cow for cops and the city, which needs the funding.  The City makes most of their money from impounding vehicles, which gets paid even if the person is later found innocent, and the Federal Government chips in substantial funding for DUI Checkpoints.  MADD also provides funding and volunteers.

As one of a few experienced Orange County DUI Lawyers practicing in this area, I’ve seen hundreds of DUI Checkpoints.  Contact me if you need the advice of our Newport Beach DUI Lawyers.

Related articles

• DUI Checkpoints Are Cash Cow For Cops, Cities (themoderatevoice.com)
• Cypress: DUI Checkpoint On Saturday (cehwiedel.com)
• Seal Beach: Results of DUI Checkpoint (cehwiedel.com)

Posts Tagged ‘Police officer’

A DUI increases suicide risk

Friday, September 30th, 2011

The Investigative Reporting Program at UC Berkeley found that sobriety checkpoints are more often turning into cash-generating operations for local law enforcement – rather than a means to remove drunks from the road.

We started this story in September with a tip about DUI checkpoints in the North San Francisco Bay Area that netted more than 20 vehicles impounded, but hardly any drunken driving arrests.

Community activists alleged that the checkpoints were disproportionately impacting Hispanic neighborhoods. It wasn’t easy to determine who is losing their cars at checkpoints.

Several police departments said they do not track the ethnicity of drivers they cite and also declined to release citation data on privacy grounds.

But over the past three months, we conducted dozens of interviews with law enforcement, tow truck operators and motorists who had lost their cars at checkpoints. The consensus: Vehicles are predominantly seized from minority motorists – often illegal immigrants.

We began the reporting in earnest in late October by requesting data detailing the results of sobriety checkpoints, by city, for the past two fiscal years (2007-08 and 2008-09) from the California Office of Traffic Safety and the UC Berkeley Safe Transportation Research and Education Center.

For each city, we calculated the per checkpoint averages for the number of police officer hours worked, number of DUI arrests, and number of vehicle impounds. We also calculated the ratio of vehicles impounded by each agency for every one DUI arrest made at sobriety checkpoints.

We wanted to answer the question, do cities with larger Hispanic populations impound more cars at their checkpoints?

Next, we imported demographic data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (2006-08) for each city included in the checkpoints dataset. Specifically, we included the percentage of each city’s population that identifies itself as Hispanic. For the small number of cities that were too small to be included in the survey, we used data from the 2000 census instead.

Using statistical analysis software (SPSS), we divided the 155 California cities in the dataset into quartiles based on their Hispanic population as a percentage of the whole. In cities in the quartile with the largest Hispanic populations, Hispanics constitute at least 48.5 percent of the total population. In cities in the quartile with the smallest Hispanic populations, Hispanics constitute 17.4 percent or less of the total population.

We then calculated averages for number of impounds per checkpoint, by quartile.

The results were stark.

Checkpoints in cities where Hispanics are the largest share of the population impounded 34 cars per operation, a rate three times higher than the cities with the smallest Hispanic populations, which averaged 11 per operation.

We used state checkpoints data, hundreds of pages of city financial records and tow receipts to determine an estimate of how much money vehicle seizures at checkpoints generate. Terry Odeon, a UC Berkeley finance professor, reviewed the methodology used to calculate the estimate and found it sound.

The California Tow Truck Association says that owners of these vehicles only recover them 30 percent of the time.

We determined the average tow bill paid statewide for car owners that did recover their vehicles last year was $1,805.20, including city impound release fees, and tow and storage charges, generating an estimated total of $13,078,674 last year for tow firms and cities. For unrecovered cars, we determined each car on average created a bill of $1,720, which tow firms receive from selling cars at lien sales. Those cars generated an estimated $29,080,040.

All together, cities and tow firms generated an estimated $42,158,714 last year.

UC Berkeley graduate journalism students assisted the reporting at several stages. Linsay Rousseau Burnett helped report at a checkpoint. Madeleine Bair provided translation for several interviews. And Karen Weise fact checked numerous parts of the story.

This project was produced in collaboration with California Watch, with Mark Katches editing throughout the process.

Posts Tagged ‘Police officer’

A DUI increases suicide risk

Friday, September 30th, 2011

As someone that handles Los Angeles DUI and Orange County DUI cases daily, I see DUI from the front lines, and I’ve mentioned over and over again that DUI checkpoints don’t work.

Sobriety checkpoints in California are increasingly turning into profitable operations for local police departments, which are far more likely to seize cars from unlicensed motorists than catch drunken drivers, according to an investigation by the Investigative Reporting Program at UC Berkeley with California Watch.

In 2009, impounds at checkpoints generated some $40 million in towing fees and police fines (revenue that cities divide with towing firms). Police officers received about $30 million in overtime pay for the DUI crackdowns, the investigation found.

Vehicles are predominantly taken from minority motorists – often illegal immigrants, the investigation found:

• Sobriety checkpoints frequently screen traffic within, or near, Hispanic neighborhoods. Cities where Hispanics represent a majority of the population are seizing cars at three times the rate of cities with small minority populations. In South Gate, where Hispanics make up 92 percent of the population, police confiscated an average of 86 vehicles per operation last fiscal year.
• The seizures appear to defy a 2005 federal appellate court ruling that determined police cannot impound cars solely because the driver is unlicensed. In fact, police across the state have ratcheted up vehicle seizures. Last year, officers impounded more than 24,000 cars and trucks at checkpoints. The percentage of vehicle seizures has increased 53 percent compared to 2007.
• Departments frequently overstaff checkpoints with officers, all earning overtime. The Moreno Valley Police Department in Riverside County averaged 38 officers at each operation last year, six times more than federal guidelines say is required. Nearly 50 other local agencies averaged 20 or more officers per checkpoint – operations that averaged three DUI arrests a night.

Law enforcement officials say demographics play no role in determining where police establish checkpoints. Read the full story here.

Related articles

• Car Seizures At DUI Checkpoints Raise Money, Legal Questions (huffingtonpost.com)
• CA Sobriety Checkpoints Are Becoming More About Profit Than Drunk Driving (dvorak.org)
• Seal Beach: Results of DUI Checkpoint (cehwiedel.com)