Improve the Effectiveness of Law Enforcement

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Improve the Effectiveness of Law Enforcement: Introduction

Strategies and Approaches to Improve the Effectiveness of Law Enforcement

What Communities Can Do

What Parents Can Do

What Agencies Can Do

What Schools Can Do

Strategies & Approaches › Improve Law Enforcement › Increase Use of DUI Checkpoints and other Enforcement Tactics

Increase Use of DUI Checkpoints and other Enforcement Tactics

In communities across the United States, only one arrest is made for every 772 impaired driving trips. Law enforcement resources must be used efficiently and effectively in order to reduce impaired driving, particularly among underage youth in states with zero tolerance laws. Saturation patrols and sobriety checkpoints act as deterrents to drivers who drink or use drugs and remind the general public that impaired driving is a crime. Checkpoints and patrols increase the perceived risk of arrest if they are adequately publicized.

Saturation patrols are concentrated enforcement efforts that target impaired drivers by observing moving violations such as reckless driving, speeding, and aggressive driving. Well-publicized saturation patrols educate the general driving public that breaking traffic laws is a serious problem and that violators will be punished.

At sobriety checkpoints, law enforcement officials evaluate drivers for signs of alcohol or drug impairment at certain points on the roadway. Vehicles are selected in a specific sequence, such as stopping every other vehicle, or every fourth, fifth or sixth vehicle. The frequency with which vehicles are stopped depends on the personnel available to staff the checkpoint and traffic congestion. Well-publicized checkpoint programs educate both those who pass through the checkpoint and the general driving public that impaired drivers will be caught.

Issue	Community members have observed an increase in reckless driving on weekend nights.
Strategy	Encourage and support law enforcement to implement sobriety checkpoints and saturation patrols on weekend nights at locations where impaired driving is high according to arrest and crash records. Have them be particularly cognizant of underage drivers who may show evidence of alcohol consumption. Law enforcement should implement appropriate zero tolerance law where applicable.

For additional strategies and approaches for improving the effectiveness of law enforcement, see the following:

What You Can Do: Community
What You Can Do: Parents
What You Can Do: Agencies
What You Can Do: Schools

References:
Underage Drinking Prevention Action Guide and Planner. 2001. Center for Substance Abuse Prevention. Available at: http://media.shs.net/prevline/pdfs/phd858.pdf#search=%22underage%20drinking%20prevention%20action%20guide%20and%20planner%22. Accessed on [08/25/06]

Underage Drinking Prevention Action Guide and Planner. 2001. Center for Substance Abuse Prevention. Available at: http://media.shs.net/prevline/pdfs/phd858.pdf#search=%22underage%20drinking%20prevention%20action%20guide%20and%20planner%22. Accessed on [08/25/06]

A Guide to Zero Tolerance and Graduated Licensing: Two Strategies that Work. Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation. Available at: http://www.udetc.org/documents/Guide2zero.pdf#search=%22a%20guide%20to%20zero%20tolerance%20and%20graduated%20licensing%22. Accessed on [09/06/06]

California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control Develops an Innovative Liquor Law Enforcement Program—TRACE—to Enforce Underage Drinking Laws. Successful Innovations: News from the Field. Underage Drinking Enforcement Training Center. Jan. 2005. http://www.udetc.org/success_stories/CA0105.pdf. [Accessed on 08/02/06]

Bonnie, R.J. & M.E. O’Connell (eds). 2003. Reducing Underage Drinking: A Collective Responsibility. The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C.

Johnson, K.D. Underage Drinking: Problem-Oriented Guides for Police Problem-Specific Guides Services. U.S. Dept. of Justice. Available at: http://www.popcenter.org/problems/PDFs/underage.pdf#search=%22statistics%20on%20alcohol%20free%20events%20and%20underage%20drinking%22. Accessed on [09/01/06]

Shoulder Tap Program. 2003. Department of Alcohol Beverage Control. Available at: http://www.abc.ca.gov/programs/Shoulder_tap.html. Accessed on [09/06/06]

Saturation Patrols and Sobriety Checkpoints. Available at: http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/alcohol/SobrietyCheck/. Accessed on [09/06/06]

A Practical Guide to Preventing and Dispersing Underage Drinking Parties. 2005. Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation: Underage Drinking Enforcement Training Center.

Underage Drinking in California: California Town Hall Meetings. Community Prevention Institute. March, 2006.

Facts for Teens: Teens and Alcohol. National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center. 2002. http://www.safeyouth.org/scripts/teens/alcohol.asp. Accessed on [07/28/06]

Youth and Underage Drinking: An Overview. US Department of Health and Human Services. http://ncadi.samhsa.gov/govpubs/RPO990/. [Accessed on 08/01/06]

Spear, L.P. Alcohol’s Effects on Adolescents. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. 2003.