Sgt. Tracey Schofield checks license plate of motorist he pulled over. Many routine traffic stops lead to DUI arrests.
PINELLAS PARK – City police are concerned that since Pinellas County commissioners passed a law that allows bars to remain open later there will be a rise in DUI arrests and alcohol related crashes.
The county measure allows taverns to stay open until 3 a.m., but municipalities can establish earlier closing times by ordinance if they so desire.
Pinellas Park will most likely be among them, but that doesn’t mean that motorists who had a few too many in nearby cities can’t get in trouble while driving though Pinellas Park.
“We are concerned, yes,” said Sgt. Tracey Schofield, who supervises the special operations unit that tracks down drunk drivers though special enforcement patrols. “It’s wait and see and it is difficult to predict if we will see an increase in drunk driving.”
Local police, Schofield says, have been cracking down on impaired drivers in recent years. There have been several high profile alcohol related crashes involving deaths in recent months.
One of the problems with drunken drivers is that they know many police departments forbid chases by officers. When a suspected drunk driver flees police break off pursuit to decrease the possibility of an accident that could injure or kill innocent people.
“I, as a police officer, would not want to live with the knowledge that I caused the death of an innocent person because I was chasing a drunk driver,” Schofield said.
Police can usually track down and arrest the suspect at his or her home the next day because in most cases suspects are driving their own cars and license plate numbers can be traced.
“Most police officers are not willing to put the lives of innocent people at risk to arrest a drunken driver,” Schofield said.
A drunk driving arrest and conviction can cost a violator up to $10,000 or more when the fine, court costs, lawyer’s fees and increase insurance rates are factored in.
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