Wednesday, August 4, 2010

First half of 2010 brings 170 DUI checkpoint arrests

An interesting statistical analysis of DUI checkpoints from the first six months of this year was presented to our Board of Police Commissioners yesterday. From January 1 to June 30, 2010, Kansas City police stopped a total of 6,944 vehicles at 14 checkpoints. A total of 170 people were arrested for driving while intoxicated – 2.45 percent of all of those stopped. The most common demographic profile of those arrested for DUI was a white male between the ages of 21 and 29.

Age and gender were the areas that showed the greatest statistical differences in DUI arrests. A total of 76.5 percent of the 170 people arrested for DUI in Kansas City this year have been male. And the 21-29 age category far exceeded all others, comprising 52.3 percent of all DUI arrests.

The scariest statistic in this report was the blood alcohol level of those arrested. About one-fifth of those arrested had blood alcohol levels of 0.16% or greater – twice the legal limit or higher. I’m pleased checkpoints like this are keeping these dangerous drivers off the road. But any officer who works these checkpoints will tell you that arrest is actually the tertiary goal. The primary and secondary goals of DUI checkpoints are deterrence and education. Knowing you might get stopped at a checkpoint might prevent you from driving while intoxicated in the first place. Educational information about the dangers of DUI and other risky driving behavior also is passed out to everyone who goes through the checkpoint.

You can see the full report for January through June 2010 below:

Number of checkpoints conducted: 14
Total number of vehicles checked: 6,944
Total DUI arrests made: 170



percent
Asian male
0.00
Asian female
0.59
Black male
23.53
Black female
5.29
Hispanic male
7.65
Hispanic female
0.00
White male
45.29
White female
18.24


Age 16-20
2.94
Age 21-29
52.35
Age 30-39
21.76
Age 40-50
15.88
Age 50 and up
7.06


BAC .06%-.09%
20.00*
BAC .10%-.12%
17.65
BAC .13% -.15%
12.94
BAC .16%-.20%
15.88
BAC .21%-.25%
3.53
BAC .25% and up
0.00

*Percentages do not add up to 100 because 48 arrestees refused the BAC breath test.

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