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Selective Enforcement Analysis - Including a Report on the Effect of Portable Breath Test Devices on Detection/Apprehension of Drinking Drivers - 1976

NCJ Number
74538
Date Published
1979
Length
39 pages
Annotation
The performance of the selective enforcement (SE) unit funded by the Tampa Fla., Alcohol Safety Action Program (ASAP) is analyzed; a detailed description of SE countermeasures and arrest procedures is provided; and the results of a special pre-arrest breath test study are presented.
Abstract
The Tampa ASAP funded two selective enforcement squads: an 11-man squad funded within the Tampa Police Department, and a 10-man squad funded within the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP). The FHP squad rotated patrols with local police in the Tampa area. Hours of operation for the two units were varied, but standard arrest procedures were used throughout the program's operation. Probable cause was required for each stopped driver suspected of (DWI) driving while intoxicated and routine drivers license checks and physical tests were performed prior to vehicle impoundment and driver incarceration. During the final phase of the program blood alcohol tests, initially applied by officers at booking facilities or by officers attached to the SE squads were supplied by a Central Breath Testing (CBT) facility. Performance and efficiency data indicated that both performance in terms of the frequency of arrests and efficiency measures increased from the day the squads were initiated until about 12 months prior to the end of the project. The highest annual productivity was obtained in 1975 with a total of 9,191 arrests for alcohol-related offenses. The lower 1976 total (7,742) was occasioned partially by the loss of the FHP SE unit, and also by general slowdown in alcohol-related arrests by all the law enforcement officers in the county. Non-ASAP officers continued to increase both the frequency and the proportion of alcohol-related arrests throughout the life of the project. The one-year experiment comparing non-ASAP officers with a portable breath testing device (PABT) and non-ASAP officers without a PABT device indicated a significant increase in alcohol-related arrests for officers with the device. No significant change in arrested driver blood alcohol concentration was found. Twelve tables, 1 figure, and 5 references are provided. (Author abstract modified)