Watching your tax money Public safety
The Butler County OVI Task Force spent roughly $20,000 on drunken driving checkpoints this year that have netted 16 arrests.
That’s approximately $1,250 of federal grant money spent per arrest.
Although the checkpoints produce a small amount of arrests, officials with the 12 law enforcement jurisdictions a part of the task force, said they are effective, in conjunction with saturation patrols.
The task force will spend $176,823 this year of federal funds to conduct other checkpoints and to saturate high drunk driving accident locations to nab unsuspecting scofflaws, according to Carl Phillips, a former Hamilton police officer who coordinates the task force.
An examination by the JournalNews shows in the past five years, the task force received more than $730,000 for the saturation patrols and checkpoints, leading to 1,116 arrests.
“OVI issues are a concern to everybody, it’s a danger and I think the statistics from the task force show a presence like this does reduce that activity and that type of criminal act,” said Butler County Chief Deputy Tony Dwyer.
The task force learned last week it will get another $168,309 in funds from National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to catch drunk drivers in 2012. Butler County is only one of 14 counties in the state eligible for federal funds in 2012, said Kristen Castle, a spokeswoman for the Office of Criminal Justice Services.
“To qualify for county-wide OVI Task Force grant funding, an agency must be in the top alcohol-related fatal crash counties,” she said.
“The top alcohol-related fatal crash counties must have an average of at least six alcohol-related fatal crashes during 2008, 2009 and 2010.”
There were seven alcohol-related fatal crashes in 2008, 24 in 2009, 29 in 2010 and there have been nine this year in Butler County, according to the Ohio Highway Patrol.
Phillips said most of the money he allocates to the jurisdictions goes to pay salaries, overtime and benefits for officers who run the saturation patrols. A checkpoint runs about $1,300 to $2,100 to pay five to 10 officers to man a checkpoint. For fiscal year 2011, he said Fairfield staged two checkpoints; Hamilton, three; Middletown, three; Monroe, two and West Chester Twp., two.
The highway patrol stages its own checkpoints and saturation patrols in the county. Lt. Anne Ralston said state patrol troopers arrested 461 drunk drivers between October 2010 and now. The state also receives money from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, but since they patrol statewide, Ralston said they don’t break down the funding by county. For fiscal year 2011 the highway patrol was allocated $449,964.
While the patrols are conducted throughout the year — not just at checkpoint times — they are particularly useful when people know about the checkpoints and try to avoid them, Ralston said.
“We have additional officers out saturating a county where the OVI checkpoint is going to be for people who decide not to heed those warnings about getting a designated driver, and decide to take an alternate route,” she said. “We do our best on the traditional enforcement and through the use of saturation patrols, looking for impaired drivers.”
Although more than 10 states have outlawed the checkpoints, the U.S. Supreme Court in 1990 reviewed and upheld the use of sobriety checkpoints as a valid enforcement tool if operated within guidelines.
The jurisdictions that conduct checkpoints are required by law to send out notification a week prior to the checkpoint and then again twice right before, announcing the exact location and times of the roadblocks. Ralston said not only do the checkpoints and saturation patrols rid the roads of drunk drivers, but announcing the roadblocks also serves as a deterrent. If someone sees there is going to be a checkpoint in their area, she said they will likely think twice before getting behind the wheel after a few drinks.
“We think is it a very important and effective tool, not only in raising awareness but then at the same time apprehending drunk drivers,” she said. “We do apprehend drunk drivers who come right through the checkpoint.”
The checkpoint location also, according to the U.S. Supreme Court, must have a direct nexus to where most drunk driving incidents occur. That’s why drivers in Middletown, for example, would likely encounter a roadblock on Roosevelt Blvd., according to Phillips.
“I do think it’s a value. This is multiple jurisdictions coming together, so beyond the basic value of reducing alcohol-related incidents you have agencies working together — and that’s always a good thing — on a common focus to reduce OVI incidents. I think it’s a good use of funds,” Dwyer said.
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