First, an update, my current rookie, Mark, is doing fine with officer safety. I really think that he just had major personality conflicts with two of his evaluators. These two evaluators are friends and they pride themselves on failing probationary officers. Three days down and barring any disasters, he will pass this week and move on to a do-or-be fired third week of evaluation.
Last night, we were dispatched to a major accident at the intersection of Montrose and Allen Parkway. A female in a red vehicle was in the left turn lane facing southbound on Montrose at the light at Allen Parkway. She then decided to turn right onto Allen Parkway, from the left turn lane. She did not make it to Allen Parkway. She turned right in front of two other vehicles. One vehicle slammed into her and the other just barely nicked her vehicle. Upon our arrival, the female driver reeked of alcohol, slurred her speech, and had a hard time walking. We called a DWI task force officer to the scene to help with the DWI. For some reason, an accident unit made the scene, instead of a DWI unit. He performed field sobriety tests on the driver and declared that she was not drunk.
Ok. I can count on one finger the number of times that I have called a DWI unit to my scene and the driver was not intoxicated. I have given DWI task force units approximately 125 drunk drivers. I have a little experience with drunk people. A little annoying, but he is the expert.
Come to find out, the driver of the vehicle that slammed into her vehicle, was also under the influence of alcohol. He was 20 years old, driving with a suspended license from a previous DWI and admitted to drinking. The accident unit performed field sobriety tests on him and said that he was not drunk either. Wait a minute, he is 20, below the legal drinking age. I thought he only needed a trace of alcohol in his system to be DWI? The accident unit told us that this accident was not a big deal, no one was injured, just cut him some tickets and let him live to see another day. I said "What the #@#$"? He is 20, driving with a suspended license for a previous DWI, has alcohol in his system and you say no big deal? Well, what if he had slammed his vehicle into your family? Is it a big deal then? Absolutely crazy. I consulted with the district attorney's office and a supervisor and was told to just issue him a ticket for driving with a suspended license and being a minor under the influence of alcohol.
The accident unit tried to justify his decision by saying that the DA's office is throwing out borderline DWI cases. He told us to issue tickets to borderline cases and only call for DWI task force units on the really drunk ones. I am not sure that I have heard worse advise. So, I pull someone over and think they are boderline DWI. I do not know if their alcohol level is coming up or going down depending on when they finished drinking. Based on his advise I just issue a ticket so that if they get into an accident after I release them, they have a piece of paper with my name on it in their pocket. I do not think so. After he left, I instructed my rookie to disregard everything that the accident unit had told him.
On to a more important matter, :^D, the Longhorns played the Wyoming Cowboys in Laramie yesterday afternoon. It was on Versus network and I was fortunate enough as a Dish Network subscriber to be able to watch the game in glorious high definition. The first half was a little stressful as the Longhorns came out flat, the punting game was a disaster, and the offense played uninspired football. They got things together in the second half and rolled to a 31 point win. However, it is a strange thing having to root for teams to win so that their wins will help the Longhorns. For example, the Oklahoma State Cowboys played the University of Houston Cougars. I wanted UH to win. But, an OK State win would be much better for Texas. See, Texas needs the teams that it plays to win, but then lose to Texas. With the Big 12 not looking very good so far this season and the Longhorns playing a bunch of high school teams during their non-conference schedule, the Horns better hope that there are only two unbeaten teams at the end of the year. It would be nice to play in another Rose Bowl.
2 comments:
The issue of DWIs makes my blood boil because our justice system does very little to combat the problem. It's very scary to realize just how lenient our system is on these people and absolutely heartbreaking to ponder how many lives have been lost because our system failed to protect them from repeat offenders. Justice is never served when the system slaps an offender on the wrist, if that, and lets him go about his life to kill someone else. I appreciate you doing your part. It’s sad that so many others aren’t.
Thank you for the comment L. It is crazy that so much time and energy goes into a class B misdemeanor. So many people are killed or injured by drunk drivers. It does not make sense that the penalties are not harsher. The only reason that I can come up with is that the legislature does not want harsher penalties. They do not want to be felons if they drink and drive. Too bad.
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