DUI Arrest Officer's Viewpoint

By: G. Cantor, La Mesa P.D. Sergeant (Ret)

"It's how normally law abiding people get into trouble." I've thought of those words many times as I hear the ratchet in my handcuffs click up to a snug fit on my well dressed, well respected member of the community, my DUI prisoner.

As a police officer, training officer, traffic officer, investigator and supervisor, I have prowled the streets of San Diego County for almost 30 years, arresting burglars, robbers, misdemeanants and felons, but most of all, drunk drivers.

I am not a drinker myself because I have found that "zero" is the easiest line to recognized, but hey, that just isn't realistic for most people. There is one thing that can be said about all of us though, we all think we're gonna live forever, and it will never happen to us. Add a couple of beers to that logic and we become bullet proof. So you see, that is why drinking and driving is always an ever popular activity. Most people drink and most people drive and the possibility of those two activities getting together is pretty good.

Officers who are working the evening shifts are always looking for drunk drivers, but more than that, they are looking for P.C. to stop.

P.C., a police term for probable cause is the beginning for most drunk driving arrests. You have probably heard someone say, "If an officer wants to stop you, they'll find a way to do it." That statement is more true than not. A police officer only needs one vehicle code violation, or absent that, any unusual driving to suspect DUI. Have you looked at the size of the Vehicle Code lately? There is a lot of stuff in there that you can stop people for. Aside from the usual, there are hundreds of other circumstances that can bring a police officer to your car door.

After the stop is made the officers begin the process of looking for signs and symptoms of alcohol intoxication. Something you have no control over if you have been drinking. That distinctive odor that comes out of all of your pours and/or your exhaled breath, the redness around the edges of your eyes, slight slur in the speech, that little hitch in your dexterity as you get your license out of your wallet. There is a rather long list of things to look for that will tip the officer off. You may display one or several of these symptoms a little or a lot, but if there is anything that is noticeable, the officer is going to move to the next phase of the stop, the Field Sobriety Tests, or FSTs.

There are many commonly used tests; each law enforcement agency has their own style. FSTs are not tests that can be passed or failed, so it will do little good to practice. They are simply activities that allow the officer to observe symptoms of intoxication. The symptoms the officer saw while you were still in the car will be seen again, but more distinctly and accompanied with others.

Most FSTs end with the administration of the Preliminary Alcohol Screening (PAS) Device. If you think you didn't have too much to drink to be driving, you really need to take this test.

The PAS is strictly voluntary (unless you are under the age of 21). Unlike the other tests, this is an objective chemical test that will give you and the officer a good idea of what your blood-alcohol level actually is. If there is any question in the officer's mind about your intoxication, a refusal of the PAS forces him to arrest you. If you are under the influence of drugs with very little alcohol, the PAS will only give a reading on the alcohol and may give a result well below the legal limit. Having a low PAS reading may give the officer the opportunity to release you. However, if the appearance of intoxication does not match the PAS reading, the officer will suspect drugs and the arrest will be made, but the mandatory chemical tests offered will be either blood or urine, not breath.

Once you are in the cuffs, the law states you are going to take a chemical test. As a matter of fact, you agreed to take one when you got your driver's license. Keep in mind, the officer can force a test. If they have to do that, regardless of the outcome of the test, you lose your license.

The cards really are stacked against you if you get caught, but if you are drinking and driving, getting caught is not the worst that can happen.

Our state is littered with damaged vehicles and damaged lives from DUI drivers. I'm retired now so you probably will never meet me, but take my advice, don't drink and drive. Whether you are caught or not, if you drink and drive it is only a matter of time before you become one of those people who would normally never get into trouble.

Greg Cantor Retired Sergeant La Mesa Police Department