Tucson DUI Enforcement: Are Checkpoints Effective?

Tucson, Arizona - Both the Tucson Citizen and the Arizona Daily Star reported today that the most recent Tucson DUI task force roadblock stunt netted 22 drunk driving arrests. According to reports, the checkpoint was stationed at North First Avenue near Prince Road, and took place on Friday evening from 9pm to 3am. During those six hours, the Tucson police department checked approximately 1,200 Tucson drivers. Of those checked, 22 were arrested for DUI or related charges.

The practice of these highly publicized DUI checkpoints in Tucson is open to debate. On the one hand, the practice certainly increases the public awareness of DUI in Tucson. In fact, the stated goal of the Tucson Police Department is increased awareness and deterrence.

According to reports, the average body alcohol content was .151 percent. This is considered to be an extreme DUI in Arizona. Under Arizona DUI law, there are three basic levels of DUI for adults involving a prohibited alcohol level. The regular or basic DUI is the .08 percent legal limit. Next comes the "extreme DUI" at .150 to .199. And finally, the "super extreme DUI" applies to any alcohol content of .20 or higher. As the alcohol level of the accused goes up this spectrum, the potential penalties increase drastically.

The average alcohol level of .151 poses some potential problems to the stated goal of the Tucson Police Department. It can be argued that at a level that high, or "extreme" as law enforcement and prosecutors like to call it, prior news reports of aggressive DUI enforcement and checkpoints may have minimal or no deterrent value. This is because, if the person is so extremely impaired that they are eligible for enhanced penalties, then how can they be expected to make the right judgment call, even with the knowledge that the Tucson DUI Task force is lurking?

To those who are passionately against drunk drivers, and most people are, the Tucson Police Department's tactics are usually applauded, and loudly. But the question is not how effective a public relations tool they are, so much as how effective they are at efficiently removing DUI drivers from the streets of Tucson? These are two very different concepts.

If, for example, the Tucson Police Department were to take the 23 officers who staffed this roadblock, and put them in individual cruisers to drive around and observe and pull over people for traffic infractions associated with DUI, it is arguable that those 23 officers over the six hour period would net more than the 22 DUI arrests that this checkpoint produced. Even if the numbers were roughly the same, the other approximate 1178 sober and innocent drivers who were inconvenienced by the Tucson Police Department would not have been bothered.

As always, there are no easy solutions to the problem of DUI. But it is important to hold our applause for any and every DUI enforcement event and to question its efficacy. Nobody can argue persuasively that getting drunk drivers off the road is a bad idea for society. But to question our government's efficiency is to invite discussion and, hopefully, improvement.