University Daily Kansan
Wednesday, February 6, 1986
5
Remember that late-night party was aggered out in a drunken stupor? Sure you were drunk, but you were miraculously found its way home. Amazing, no? Perhaps even more amazing is the fact that your drink was so thick it
The Lawrence Police Department has a special car cruising Lawrence streets at night looking for drunken drivers.
Purchased through the federally funded Alcohol Safety Action Program, the ASAP car operates from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. from Wednesday to Saturday.
The ASAP started in Lawrence about four years ago and at first, off-duty officers were paid time and a half to go in the car. The program as part of its regular police training.
All LPD patrolmen are required to do ASAP duty every 10-12 hours for a four-day period, and have completed about 10 hours of specialized instruction.
Any officer on the street can arrest a man who is driving too fast, patroman, said, but most refer them to the ASAP car because of the time involved in making the process of bringing an officer to the scene.
"A district officer is not supposed to get tied up on UPI (operating under the influence) unless there is someone else to cover his district." he said.
The ASAP officer on duty, is responsible for the whole city, cruises all night, watching for signs of drunken motorists, Davis said.
But, he added, there are certain areas where violators most often will be found.
One such area is "the square,"—the area between Sixth and 23rd, Massachusetts and Iowa streets.
According to Dave Cobb, another ASAP patrolman, drunken driver activity picks up about 9 to 10 p.m.
"The main traffic arteries are where the ASAP unit will be. You just run the square. All your bars are mainly located on those streets," he said.
Cobb said he knew of incidents when women nearly had to be dragged into the car, putting an u-fight all the way.
Davis said he logged about 70 miles on an average night.
The ASAP officer usually rides alone, and may have a hard time bringing people in, he said.
“It’s a funny job.” Davis sat. I was guilty
had—one minute he was friendly. The next minute
he was antagonistic.
Another man was totally cooperative until he was told that he would have to be hand-cuffed, a routine procedure
"He refused to have the cuffs on," Davis said.
The majority of people he had picked up were students and lower-income people, Davis said.
Story by TOM TEDESCHI
"Nobody's immune because everybody drinks," he said. "We could probably stop 10 cars tonight and eight might have had something to drink."
Weekends and game days were particularly active, he said.
"That's when a lot of your fights get started." he said.
ASAP officers sometimes follow up on tips from bar owners who call the police about someone who is drunk and planning to drive home. Davis said.
Davis agreed, but noted that people who are stone sober quite often make the same violations.
Cobb said squealing tires, going through caution lights and past stop signs, fast starts and stop; and swerving are all clues for ASP officers.
The most common mistakes made by drunk drivers, Davies said, are crossing the street when it's raining or when someone else. Some think that by driving exceptionally slow and being overly cautious they can avoid a crash.
Once a car is pulled over, the five "field sobriety tests" are administered to the driver, if probable cause for them is provided. Two more kinds of the driver constitutes probable cause.
In the first test, the driver is instructed to stand with both legs together and with his tail lifted he. Then he must raise his leg after touching the ground, one later the other, for 10 seconds.
The next test requires the driver to walk heel-toe for ten steps in a straight line. He then must turn left and come back seven steps.
In those cases, the officer may "set up" outside the bar and follow the drunk's car until there is probable cause for pulling him over.
The third test requires the driver to extend his arm out to his side and then straight ahead. He then must touch his index finger to his nose, five times with each hand.
The driver is next instructed to pick up four coins one at a time-two pennies, a nickel and a quarter—the pennies in his left hand and the nickel and quarter in his right. He must then arrange them in a straight line, either vertically or horizontally, on a desk.
The driver then must recite the alphabet three times as fast as he can.
In some cases, drivers will "ask for it" like this driver did when he ran several stop signs while being followed by the A S A P car.
One man walked about 15 toe-to-heel steps and forgot to turn around. Another could not get through the finger-to-nose test because he became ill, and fourth forgot the finger to the letter C.
Besides alcohol, marjuanja and drugs can also be included in an OUH charge. There are more difficult to prove because they call for either a blood or prune test. Davis said
Although the field sobriety tests can be refused, the officer must inform the driver that there is a "possibility" of losing his license.
In addition, an automatic charge of reckless driving accompanies an OUI charge. Both are misdemeanors.
At the station, the driver is again searched, questioned and booked. He also is given a breathalyzer test, which, like the spirometry tests, can be refused.
The driver is then released to a "responsible person" over the age of 21. A court date is also set for about four months after the arrest.
If convicted, the penalty is imprisonment of not more than six months or a fine not less than $100 and not more than $500.
An A S A P car turns on its lights to signal the driver of a weaving car to pull over.
Top: Officer Dave Davis, left, watches as fellow officer Dave Cobb demonstrates a sobriety test for a suspect to mimic. Officers administer five different tests, in order to measure the suspect's sobriety.
Lower left: Cobb sweeps up some glass that was scattered over the road after an accident. Police estimate that about half of Lawrence traffic accidents are related to the use of alcohol.
Photos by JEFF HARRING