Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Will we be drowning in drunks?

Metro making fewer DUI arrests, even though drunken driving persists in Southern Nevada

DUI checkpoint

Mona Shield Payne / Special to the Sun

Metro Police Officer Jeff Dean asks questions of an unidentified driver while conducting vehicle stops looking for impaired drivers at a DUI checkpoint on Nellis Boulevard south of East Lake Mead Boulevard.

In television public service ads, people who drink and drive never get away with it. Police officers are everywhere, patrolling roads, checking driver’s licenses and walking beats.

Officers literally are part of the scenery in some ads, thanks to special effects that blend them into the background of walls and alleyways near bars. The message is clear: You may not see the cops, but they’ll see you. Fire up your car after drinking to excess, and you’ll end up in jail. It’s a common theme in anti-DUI campaigns and their slogans: “Over the limit, under arrest” and “Driving hammered will get you nailed.” But in much of Las Vegas, the reality of impaired driving is different.

Click to enlarge photo

Field sobriety tests. Most aspects of a field sobriety test are for show; they can’t be used to prove intoxication. Many people can’t say the alphabet backward when sober, for instance.


The only part that really matters is when an officer holds up a finger or pen in front of a motorist’s face and asks him to track it side to side without moving his head.


Impaired motorists’ eyes will involuntarily twitch as the officer’s finger reaches the edges of the driver’s peripheral vision. The more the eyes twitch, the more evidence of intoxication.

Metro Police, the department responsible for more DUI arrests than any other law enforcement agency in the valley, is doing less enforcement now than it was years ago. As a result, arrests have plummeted from more than 7,700 in 2012 to about 5,800 in 2013 to a preliminary figure of fewer than 4,500 in 2014.

Cops everywhere, watching every drunken driver? Not quite.

Sheriff Joe Lombardo said budget constraints and other factors have reduced the number of officers on the streets, which has led to a decrease in traffic stops, prompted the department to stop responding to most non-injury vehicle crashes and resulted in the decrease in DUI arrests.

“DUI is still in the same position on the priority list that it’s always been,” Lombardo said. “It’s just that if you have fewer people addressing it, you’re going to have fewer arrests.”

That would be a dangerous situation anywhere, but that’s especially the case in a city that prides itself on lacking inhibition and makes alcohol available 24/7/365.

Las Vegas attorney James Martines, a former DUI prosecutor in Henderson, says he knows from experience there are drunken drivers on valley streets around the clock.

“It’s just the nature of the city,” Martines said. “This is what we sell.”

Years of prosecuting, and now defending, impaired drivers have taught Martines to watch motorists closely when he’s behind the wheel. He looks for signs that drivers are impaired — weaving or swerving, mostly — and said he sees them often.

There are other indications the number of drunks on local roads is just as high as ever, if not higher. DUI arrests by Nevada Highway Patrol officers have climbed from 1,834 in 2012 to 2,265 last year.

In other words, during the same period that Metro’s arrests dove almost 43 percent, NHP’s shot up more than 23 percent.

One key difference: NHP maintained a steady number of officers on the streets, Trooper Loy Hixson said.

    Sgt. Richard Strader of Metro sees the aftermath of drunken driving on a regular basis. He heads the department’s fatal accident detail, which investigates crashes that result in death or life-threatening injuries. In 22 years as a Metro patrol officer and investigator, he has become an expert on how and why crashes happen. The “why” often is alcohol, illegal drugs or prescription medications.

    “I don’t have a specific number, but in a high percentage of them, it’s a combination of impairment as well as speed that tends to kill people,” Strader said.

    Authorities said alcohol was involved in about 30 percent of the 284 traffic deaths statewide last year.

    Clark County traffic fatalities fell in 2014 compared with 2013, after Metro took steps to curb deadly crashes, including a controversial policy to stop responding to most non-injury crashes. The move freed officers to focus on speeding, reckless driving, seat belt violations and other problems that contribute to motor vehicle deaths.

    Now, Lombardo says he’s working to get more officers on the streets.

    “If we had 1,000 more police officers, would we arrest every drunk on the road? No, that’s not feasible,” he said. “But you could have more enforcement to address the crime. It’s just like anything. If we had 1,000 more officers looking at robbery, then we would have an effect on that.”

    Although Metro enforcement has waned, authorities in the valley make an average of 20 DUI arrests each day. It’s part of the daily grind in a city Men’s Health ranked as the nation’s 11th drunkest, based on factors such as number of DUI arrests and fatal crashes involving alcohol. Las Vegas ranked No. 34 among 100 cities for arrests and No. 11 for fatal crashes.

    For everyone involved — the drunken driver, his or her family, crash victims and their families — the consequences of DUI can be dire. Offenders can and do lose their jobs, go to jail or prison and face thousands of dollars in fines, attorney fees and higher insurance premiums. Victims can incur medical costs from injuries, vehicle repair bills and lost time from work — if they survive.

    But the stream of DUI offenders in valley jails keeps flowing, day in, day out.

    Last month, local law enforcement officers announced an initiative to get more drunken drivers off the streets. Using federal grant money, departments will assign groups of officers to look specifically for impaired drivers and conduct periodic DUI check stops. Most recently, officers set up a check lane during Super Bowl weekend near Blue Diamond Road and South Decatur Boulevard.

    For North Las Vegas officer Aaron Patty, such crackdowns are worthwhile, even if they result in just a small number of arrests, as was the case during an 11-day saturation patrol in December that netted eight drunken drivers valleywide.

    “Each impaired driving arrest that I’ve been involved in, that’s a possibility that a life has been saved,” Patty said.

    But there’s a flipside. Law enforcement officers and anti-DUI advocates routinely quote a sobering statistic — drunken drivers on average have driven impaired 80 times before their first arrest.

    So here’s the reality: At any time of day, including peak traffic periods, when children are getting on and off of buses and people are driving to and from work, drunken drivers are on Las Vegas streets and highways. And despite the message presented on TV, there are only so many protectors to go around.

    Motorists, know your rights

    James Martines has seen DUI court cases from both sides, first as a Henderson city attorney who specialized in DUI prosecution and now as a defense lawyer representing clients facing impaired-driving charges. Here’s what Martines says motorists should know about the legal system and their rights if pulled over for DUI.

    • There are two ways prosecutors can prove a driver was impaired: One, through a Breathalyzer or blood test that shows the driver’s blood-alcohol level was 0.08 or higher within two hours of driving a vehicle, or two, through the arresting officer’s observations of the driver weaving, failing to pass a field sobriety test (the classic roadside test that involves walking in a straight line and reciting the alphabet backward) or admitting to having had too much to drink, for instance.

    • Motorists can refuse both the Breathalyzer and blood test. If that happens, officers must obtain a warrant to conduct a blood test, a process that involves calling a court and getting an on-call judge’s approval. Once the warrant is approved, motorists must comply.

    • Motorists have no legal requirement to tell officers whether they’ve been drinking or how much they’ve consumed. They can respectfully refuse to answer questions or invoke their right to remain silent. It’s a gold mine for prosecutors when a drunken-driving defendant admits to having had too much to drink.

    • Prosecutors sometimes agree to let defendants plead guilty to reckless driving instead of DUI. To get the deal, offenders must satisfy a number of conditions, including paying fines, performing community service work, attending DUI school and participating in a victim impact panel.

    • Prosecutors don’t automatically seek the harshest penalties because the consequences, such as losing a job or being financially crippled by fines, can trigger a downward spiral that could make a defendant more likely to drink and drive again and put the community at further risk. Many people just need a wake-up call and won’t drink and drive after their first offense. Others need to go to jail or prison — particularly repeat offenders or people involved in serious crashes.

    “It’s the nature of alcoholism: You’re not going to quit drinking,” Martines said. “Sometimes, the only thing that keeps people straight is to remove their access to alcohol.”



    Snapshot of a victim impact panel

    In Las Vegas and elsewhere, people convicted of impaired driving often must attend a victim impact panel sponsored by Mothers Against Drunk Driving, in which DUI crash victims and other speakers discuss the consequences of impaired driving. Focusing on such ramifications as injury and death, loss of employment, increased insurance costs and jail time, the panels are designed to reduce DUI recidivism. On a night in December, 42 offenders attended a panel in the North Las Vegas Municipal Court building. Of them:

    Seven said they lost their jobs because of their arrest.
    Twelve said they were involved in crashes. Of those, seven said they fell asleep before the crash.
    Four said they fell asleep in their car but didn’t crash it.
    Two were arrested at DUI checkpoints.
    Five said they used drugs or a combination of drugs and alcohol.
    Two were arrested for drinking while boating.
    Four said the conviction was their second. The remainder were first-time offenders.
    One said his blood-alcohol level was .362 — more than four times the legal limit — and he had no memory of why he was arrested.

    The Penalties

    FOR SOME, A DUI CAN MEAN UNEMPLOYMENT

    For many people, especially those who drive as part of their job, a DUI can be career ending.

    In Nevada, people with commercial driver’s licenses can be charged with DUI if their blood-alcohol level is 0.04 or higher — half the legal limit for people with standard driver’s licenses. Commercial drivers also could have their licenses suspended or revoked, which could result in lost work time or termination. Many employers bar DUI offenders from having jobs that involve extensive driving, either with or without a commercial driver’s license — think deliverers, salespeople and couriers, for example.

    The transportation industry in general has stringent DUI policies. Employees who work for airlines or at airports, for instance, can be terminated for DUI convictions.

    Teachers and military personnel also face heavy consequences from a DUI arrest. State law bars educators with DUI convictions from working in Nevada public schools, and military policies include a court-martial depending on the nature and severity of the offense.

    But Las Vegas attorney James Martines, who defends DUI cases after working as a DUI prosecutor in Henderson, said in his experience, employers generally “are fairly lax” on the issue. Many don’t discipline employees convicted of impaired driving, especially if the worker doesn’t get arrested again.

    Still, Martines said he has prosecuted and defended many people who have lost their jobs or faced other consequences because of a DUI conviction, particularly people whose jobs require state or federal licensing.

    “I saw a lot of people in professional careers who got a DUI, and it jeopardized their license,” he said.





    1st DUI OFFENSE

    • Two days to six months in jail, or 48 to 96 hours of community service

    • Fine of $400 to $1,000

    • Attend DUI school

    • Attend a victim impact panel

    • Driver’s license revoked for 90 days with $35 penalty

    • If blood-alcohol level is 0.18 or higher, the defendant must place a breath interlock device on his or her vehicle for one to three years.

    • If blood-alcohol level is 0.18 or higher or the defendant is younger than 21, he or she will be required to undergo an alcohol/drug dependency evaluation, which costs $100.

    2nd DUI OFFENSE

    • Ten days to six months in jail

    • Fine of $750 to $1,000, or community service work and attend a victim impact panel

    • Alcohol/drug dependency evaluation, which costs $100

    • Driver’s license revoked or suspended for at least one year with $35 penalty

    • Vehicle registration suspended for at least five days

    • If blood-alcohol level is 0.18 or higher, mandatory one- to three-year interlock device

    • Court-ordered substance abuse treatment

    3rd DUI OFFENSE

    • One to six years in prison

    • Fine of $2,000 to $5,000

    • Attend a victim impact panel

    • Mandatory interlock device for one to three years

    • License revoked or suspended for at least three years with $35 penalty

    • Vehicle registration suspended for at least five days

    Victims of drunken driving share stories of grief, perseverance

    Todd Elwing

    In September 1993, Todd Elwing was training to qualify for the nation’s top bodybuilding championship. He didn’t make the competition.

    While crossing a street in Columbus, Ohio, where he was training, he was hit by a drunken driver doing 60 mph in a 30 mph zone.

    Elwing, then 21, was knocked out of his clothes. His left leg was cut off below the knee. His aorta was ripped open.

    “I was naked in the middle of the street in a pool of my own blood with my leg laying next to me,” he said.

    Elwing said doctors told him he’d never live independently again. They were wrong.

    After enduring multiple surgeries, including one to reattach his leg, Elwing regained the use of his upper body and in 2002 won a world bodybuilding championship for wheelchair athletes.

    He now is a motivational speaker who tells his story to DUI offenders and others.

    “How many people would just randomly walk down the street in your neighborhood and fire a pistol?” he asked a group of offenders. “But that’s what you’re doing when you drive drunk or on drugs. You’re putting people at risk.”

    The driver who hit Elwing was sentenced to 90 days in jail and ordered to pay a $500 fine, Elwing said. He has little sympathy for people who believe DUI penalties are too stiff.

    “The punishment is harsh,” he said. “But not as harsh as the punishment handed down to me.”

    Joshua Johnson

    Vickie Johnson doesn’t remember how much blood was pumped into her son Joshua’s body on the night he died — she thinks it was 50 units — but she vividly recalls seeing it pouring out of him.

    “There was so much internal bleeding, they couldn’t save him,”Johnson said. “He had an organ donor card, but they never asked me for his organs. That, to me, was an indication of how bad he was.”

    Joshua was killed June 4, 2005, by a drunken driver. The woman whose car hit him was a co-worker of Joshua’s.

    Vickie Johnson said tests showed the driver’s blood-alcohol level was 0.15 at the time of the crash. She was allowed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor, which Johnson considered a gross miscarriage of justice.

    “The legal system was horrific,” she said. “But as a mother and a person, I had to let that go. I couldn’t live my life in bitterness. So I made it my mission to share our story with offenders, share it with victims, share it with whomever I could. ”

    Joshua died five days after his 17th birthday.

    Every year, Vickie Johnson, a Clark County District Court supervisor, releases balloons on Joshua’s birthday — one for each year he would have been alive. On the anniversary of the crash, Vickie releases butterflies.

    Ana Ley contributed to this report.

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