Police draw blood to stop DUI

Idaho police officers are trained to take blood directly from a suspected DUI offender at the scene of the arrest in an effort to crack down on drunk driving.

Officers in both Idaho and Texas recently received this training to draw blood to test for both alcohol and drugs in the system of an accused driver. The training is part of a federal program sponsored by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to determine if this can be used as a prosecution and prevention tool.

The NHTSA will test the results over a one to two year period, then they will perhaps encourage the training in other states or nationwide. The reason for the blood tests is the increase in breath test refusals among defendants.

Even in states with "implied consent" laws, many refuse breath tests on the field. Breath tests have also been notoriously inaccurate. Idaho saw as much as 20% refusal, and nationally about 22% of defendants refused breath tests.

Blood tests, on the other hand, are generally accurate in testing for both drugs and alcohol. Some states have issued legislation that allows for the drawing of blood by force if an accused driver is uncooperative. Idaho is one such state.

The Supreme Court ruled in 1966 that forced blood tests were constitutional given there was reasonable suspicion. The test, however, must be carried out in a medically-approved manner by a person who is trained in the practice. Officers often had to transport accused defendants to hospitals in order to accomplish this.

Arizona first implemented the training program to allow officers to draw blood in the field. Immediately, questions regarding the safety of this practice deterred many states from proceeding. Many claim officers do not receive the full training that nurses and other medical practitioners receive. The procedure is also carried out in an unsanitary environment.

Phoenix officers currently draw blood from 300 to 400 suspected individuals each month. According to sources, the Arizona refusal rate has dropped from around 20% to 8-9%. Arizona is considered to be one of the toughest states on DUI prosecution, and the ongoing practice of drawing blood on the field is just one technique Arizona uses that is being copied nationally.



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Arizona DUI task force results in 546 arrests so far

PHOENIX – Police and DPS officers have arrested 546 people so far during the second week of the statewide Arizona Labor Day Task Force.

According to a news release provided by the Governor's Office of Highway Safety, which is sponsoring the campaign, 72 of those arrests occurred Saturday night alone.

Twenty-five of those arrested Saturday night were cited for extreme DUI, which means they had an average blood alcohol content (BAC) of .15 or above.  The legal limit in Arizona is .08.

Since the task force started last weekend, 191 people have been arrested for extreme DUI.

The average BAC since the beginning of the campaign is .160, twice the legal limit.

Nearly 2,100 people have been cited for other violations such as speeding, not wearing a seatbelt and improper lane change.

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