Troopers ramp up holiday efforts
Published Saturday, July 4, 2009
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Stumble It!FAIRBANKS — Alaska State Troopers will be out in force for the holiday weekend.
Law enforcement will be extra vigilant for motorists who are speeding, passing in no passing zones or driving erratically, according to a trooper press release.
All three teams of the Alaska Bureau of Highway Patrol will be out on the roads.
In particular, troopers remind motorists to wear seatbelts, as a lack of seatbelts is usually the most common factor in fatal collisions.
Authorities ask those who choose to drink to have a designated driver or stay where they are rather than risk driving.
Fairbanks police also will have an extra officer on foot patrol Saturday afternoon and an extra officer on DUI patrol Saturday night, a spokeswoman said.
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Forewarned is forearmed.
Monday will have a dozen DUI's in the NM. Some people just don't learn.
Who wouldn't work a double overtime day? Lets get smart and put the DUI task force out of business.
yeah i agree. why arrest people when the judge and lawyers play lets make a deal and hardened criminals get a slap on the wrist. we need to lay off about one half the police sell all the fancy new cars and suv's they are driving and do not worry about the list of people who might be alcholics. but no lets just keep on and see if the people can bankrupt fairbanks by lawsuits caused by political correctness.
gilf - why put the dui task force out of business - do you like the thought of drunk drivers ion the road? personally, I wish there were more troopers and PD on the road.
Why worry about real crimes when there are people driving without seat belts? I still remember when they were passing the seat belt law and they lied straight faced that this would not be used as a reason to just pull people over.
I think gilf may have meant being smart and not drinking and driving--which would have multiple benefits of saving money on a DUI task force, saving on uncompensated medical bills, saving money on public defenders and court and jail personnel, saving money on lost productivity from work absences, saving untold misery by the children of these drunk drivers who end up needing special services, often for life, and then reach the age where they can get their own DUIs because it's what they know.
I don't mind getting the drunks off the road. I do mind all the unnecessary stops they make finding them. Ask the various police departments what the ratio is for the number of drivers they pulled over against the number of drivers they arrested for DUI.
It is like having road blocks but we could call them "moving" road blocks because real road blocks are illegal in Alaska. I don't like being pulled over because my license plate lights are out and then they ask me if I have been drinking. And when I tell them I don't want to discuss anything except for the reason they stop me they get an attitude. I don't drink and when one cop said he smelled a slight odor of alcohol I knew he was trying to set me up.
Did my equipment violation tip them off? Was my driving that bad that they guessed I had been drinking? Was it just because I was on the road at midnight and they had nothing better to do? I am getting tired of this random stopping so I armed myself with a tape recorder and the next time I get pulled over and ask if I had been drinking I will use that taped conversation in my formal complaint to his/her boss.
I can't believe I can lose my driver's license because I don't incriminate myself by blowing in a breath tester. I was told that when I signed my drivers license I gave up those rights and if I didn't sign my drivers license I would not be issued one. So now I have to put up with this crap!
You see a drunk driver on the road call it in and do your part to help keep our roads safe. You see a tail light out you better call that in too because it could be someone who is drinking! Wake up folks.
Ok really I don't think anyone quite WANTS drunks out on the roads, but the behavior of the police in this (and many other) respect(s) is deplorable. I would be careful about that tape recorder trick, too "thewayiseeit"- don't think that a cop won't necessarily kick the hell out of you and just take it, or smash it.
At the absolute least you will be considered "hostile to law enforcement"- a description other law officers will be privy to when running your ID- so expect back-up cars and potentially violent behavior once they know about your little scheme. Too many times I have seen people harrased, detained, arrested, and attacked by police without good cause in this sordid little valley to think that the situation is anything but out of control.
What scares the heck out of me is you totally self absorbed cell-phone users flying down the street with your head glued to a brain cancer maker. Don't you know that a person on the phone has a lower reaction time and less hand-eye coordination than the average drunk? Why aren't cell-phone drivers the target for this police income generation protocol? Maybe we should throw them in jail, take their money, and send them to a class about not being so selfish as to endanger the public by not pulling over to take a call?
Remember, though, you are not required to use any field sobriety test whatsoever. It is absolutely within your rights to have any tests carried out by professional medical staff and preferably after contacting an attorney. Of course when the dude in jackboots steps on your face for insinuating that you have rights . . .well, it was a nice theory, the law that is.
The extra police are there to help make sure everyone has a safe holiday and that they make it home alright.
Have fun everyone. Shoot off all the firecrackers you can! Bar-b-que to Lee Greenwood played at full volume while sucking down an Alaskan Amber or lemonade for those under 21 and have a safe Independence Day!!!!
Unfortunately, people will inevitably continue to drive drunk after leaving establishments that serve alcohol. It happens each and every day of the week and always will unless alcohol is no longer served at said establishments. It's a sad but true fact.
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