Police to honor victims at DUI checkpoints

PRESS RELEASE:

Kansas City Police will launch a new campaign to remember the victims of drunk driving incidents while preparing for a statewide impaired driving enforcement effort.

The statewide “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” enforcement campaign kicked off at 10 a.m. Friday, Aug. 17, at the Kansas City Regional Police Academy, 6885 N.E. Pleasant Valley Road. The enforcement will run from Aug. 17 through Labor Day, Sept. 3. In launching the campaign, KCPD joined the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT), Missouri State Highway Patrol, Smithville Police Department and Annette Murray, who lost her sister and niece to a drunk driver.

In addition to kicking off the Drive Sober enforcement campaign, Kansas City Police also will introduce their efforts to honor local victims who have lost their lives to drunk drivers. In partnership with MoDOT and Mothers Against Drunk Driving, KCPD will dedicate their upcoming sobriety checkpoints to these victims. Each checkpoint will honor a different victim by featuring two signs – one at the beginning of the check-lane with the victim’s picture and another at the end saying the date the victim was killed. After each checkpoint, the victims’ families will be given these metal signs to keep.

“It’s a way to really drive home the toll drunk driving takes on human life,” said Major Rich Lockhart, commander of KCPD’s Special Operations Division. “Many people ask, ‘Why do you do checkpoints?’ The person on that sign is why.”

The first victims to be honored at a DUI checkpoint will be Diane and Anna Bronson, the 44-year-old mother and 11-year-old daughter from Belton, Mo., who were killed on July 4, 2011. A driver whose blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit was driving the wrong way on Interstate 435 that day and slammed into the Bronsons’ vehicle at 63rd Street in Kansas City. In March 2012, the driver was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Annette Murray, the sister of Diane and aunt of Anna, spoke about the cost of that drunk driver’s actions at the kick-off event Friday.

In 2011, sixteen people in Kansas City died at the hands of an impaired driver, and another 49 suffered disabling injuries.

KCPD will join other law enforcement agencies from throughout the state with stepped-up patrols and DUI checkpoints to look for impaired drivers from Aug. 17 – Sept. 3.

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org.

Drive safely this weekend and have a great Labor Day

Lots of you will be hitting the roads to celebrate the upcoming three-day weekend and last unofficial weekend of summer. Please be careful when you do so. According to the Missouri Highway Patrol, from 2003 to 2007 (the latest statistics available), 77 people died and 2,769 were injured on Missouri roadways over the Labor Day weekends.

We're doing our part at KCPD to make sure drivers in Kansas City stay sober. We conducted a sobriety checkpoint last night (which stopped a total of 199 cars at 634 Prospect and resulted in the arrest of eight drunk drivers, two people who were driving with revoked licenses and the recovery of a stolen car) and plan more this weekend. We also will put out saturation patrols, sometimes known as wolfpacks, to seek out drunk drivers and get them off the roads.

So enjoy these final days of summer, but do so safely and responsibly.

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org.

KCPD cracking down on impaired drivers Aug. 19-Sept. 5

PRESS RELEASE:

The sobering fact is that impaired driving contributes to nearly 30 percent of all Missouri traffic fatalities. In 2010, 234 people were killed and 957 seriously injured in crashes involving an impaired driver. In KC, 63 percent of all fatal accidents involved an impaired driver. That’s why the Kansas City Missouri Police Department will join other Missouri law enforcement agencies to crack down on drunk driving Aug. 19-Sept. 5, 2011.

The Kansas City Missouri Police Department will participate in statewide sobriety checkpoints and DWI saturation patrols enforcing Missouri’s DWI laws and keeping impaired drivers off the road.

Consequences of drunk driving include jail time, loss of their driver licenses, or being sentenced to use ignition interlocks. Insurance rates go up. Other financial hits include attorney fees, court costs, lost time at work, and the potential loss of job or job prospects. When family, friends and co-workers find out, violators can also face tremendous personal embarrassment and humiliation.

“Driving drunk is simply not worth all the consequences,” Sgt. Ron Podraza said. “Our message is simple and unwavering: You Drink and Drive. You Lose.”


For more information, please visit http://www.savemolives.com/

Employee struck at DUI checkpoint doing well

I am happy to report that Greg Sowers, the KCPD fleet operations technician who was hit at a DUI checkpoint last month, is recovering nicely. After a week in the hospital and several more weeks at home recuperating, he was able to meet with the media today to discuss his ordeal. He's getting around pretty well on crutches but faces up to a year before his leg will be completely healed. He suffered a major break in his tibia, effectively separating the lower part of his leg from the upper part just below the knee. After a surgery with a metal plate and 10 screws, doctors have told him he could eventually get more than 90 percent of the original usage of his leg back. Greg said he misses running, playing softball and riding his motorcycle, but he acknowledged he's only alive "by the grace of God."

Greg credited his motorcycle riding with playing a part in saving his life. He said he's laid a bike down a few times before - never with more than minor injuries - and knew how to take a fall. Still, nothing could prepare him for what he experienced in the early morning hours of June 11. A car intent on fleeing the checkpoint plowed through it and struck Greg. He said he tried to get out of the way, but the car seemed to be coming at him, and he hit the hood. He grabbed onto a windshield wiper as the vehicle hit another police car and then took off. At one point, Greg said he realized he still had his flashlight in his hand and dropped it to grab onto the other wiper. He said all he wanted was for the car to slow down enough to let him off.

He eventually knew the car wasn't slowing down, so he said he curled up in a ball so he could be prepared to roll off if it didn't stop. This obscured some of the driver's vision, and Greg remembers the driver whipping the car back and forth to shake him off. He eventually did at 82nd and Troost, six blocks from the checkpoint. Greg said he hit the ground on all fours. His leg had been broken on the initial impact with the car. Police found him on the road a minute or two later and got an ambulance there. Greg gave credit to the tough jacket he'd borrowed from a motorcycle officer earlier that night for saving him from road rash and worse injuries.

Greg is a resilient guy. He said he'd love to work more DUI checkpoints, but he's going to honor the wishes of his mother and girlfriend and not do so.

Because of this incident, we've changed some of our protocol at checkpoints. Civilian employees like Greg no longer will stand in the check lane. Only officers will drive cars of suspected drunk drivers off the roadway, which is what Greg had been doing that night. Officers also now are equipped with Stop Sticks at DUI checkpoints to deflate the tires of those who might flee and cause a danger to others.

Tyrone Campbell, 25, has been charged with hitting Greg. He's pictured below.

All of us here at KCPD are so grateful Greg made it through this ordeal, and we wish him a very speedy recovery and swift return to our Fleet Operations Unit!

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org.

Tough new laws will help prosecution of drunk drivers

I just returned from a press conference at the office of Platte County Prosecutor Eric Zahnd to help announce an initiative that I hope will lead to  the conviction of more impaired drivers. Last year, Missouri legislators approved sweeping changes to the state's driving while impaired (DWI) laws. One was that drivers who refuse a breath alcohol test now can be subjected to a warrantless draw of their blood. Courts have upheld this law because the body metabolizes alcohol so quickly that by the time a warrant could be obtained, critical evidence could be lost. Previously, drivers who refused a breath test could lose their license for a year but often could avoid a drunk driving conviction. This new law changes that.

Platte County will be the first in the metropolitan area to conduct warrantless blood draws of drunk driving suspects. Because a decent portion of Kansas City is in Platte County - including our North Patrol Division Station - we will be participating. If a drunk driving suspect refuses a breath test, a nurse will be brought to North Patrol to draw the suspect's blood. In some cases, this could even exonerate the suspsect.

We hope this certainly will make people think twice about getting behind the wheel of a vehicle intoxicated. I wrote Monday about the tragic loss of life this has caused in Kansas City.

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org.

Update on employee struck at DUI checkpoint

You may have heard that on early Saturday morning, one of our civilian employees was struck and seriously hurt at a DUI checkpoint. I wanted to give you an update on how he's doing and say that we're still looking for the suspect, so if you have any information, please call the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS.

The checkpoint was set up in the 7600 block of Troost with KCPD and the Missouri State Highway Patrol. About 2:18 a.m. June 11, an officer contacted the occupant of a dark-colored Dodge car and asked to see his license. The suspect immediately accelerated, pulled out of line and struck one of our Fleet Operations Unit technicians. Fleet techs assist at DUI checkpoints by keeping the Mobile DUI Enforcement Center and prisoner buses up and running by maintaining equipment like generators. They also help by parking the cars of DUI suspects.

After being hit, the Fleet Ops technician, a man in his mid-30s, clung to the hood of the car until he was thrown off about six blocks later in the 8200 block of Troost. He suffered serious injuries to his leg and is undergoing surgery, but is doing very well considering the circumstances.

Police fired shots at the fleeing car and attempted to pursue it, but it eluded them. They do not know if any suspect was hit.

Just before 10 a.m. Saturday, police found a vehicle abandoned in the 200 block of W. Bannister. They believe it was the car that assaulted the KCPD employee at the DUI checkpoint.

We are continuing to investigate this case, and the Fleet Operations Technician is continuing to recover. We are very thankful that he could be out of the hospital as early as this week. Please call 816-474-TIPS (8477) if you have any information about this incident.

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org.

Police to combat "420" DUIs

PRESS RELEASE:

Once again, Kansas City Police will be out in force to combat those driving under the influence on a day known as a holiday in the drug culture.

April 20, or 4/20, is a day of widespread marijuana use, which Sergeant Daniel Graves of the Kansas City Missouri Police Department said can mean danger on the road.

“People need to recognize that a DUI is not just from alcohol,” he said. “Driving high is just as deadly.”

The Kansas City Missouri Police Department will saturate the roadways April 20 to enforce traffic laws with a specific eye out for those who may be using marijuana. The officers will pay special attention to areas around schools, parks and locations known for drug use.

Sergeant Graves said he wants to continue to use this day to educate parents about the meaning of “420” and the culture surrounding it, as has been done in the past few years.

“It’s in all kinds of rap, hip hop and rock songs your kids may be listening to,” he said. “We’re finding that many parents don’t realize this code.”

The common story of how 420 came to represent the cannabis culture is that of high schoolers in San Rafael, Calif., who met after school in 1971 to smoke weed at 4:20 p.m. because that’s when detention let out. Marijuana enthusiasts extended that to 4/20, or April 20.

Once again this year, 4/20 will mean heightened police presence on Kansas City-area roads and near schools.

“We will not let up on making our streets safer for everyone,” Sergeant Graves said.

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org.

52 arrested in weekend DUI checkpoints

Despite our very public warnings that we would be using the new Mobile DWI Enforcement Center to conduct two DWI checkpoints between March 16 and 20, police still arrested a total of 52 drunk drivers on March 17 and 19.

On the night of St. Patrick's Day, we set up a checkpoint with the assistance of Missouri State Highway Patrol and Jackson County Sheriff deputies from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. at 39th Street and northbound Southwest Trafficway. The results of that checkpoint were:

Vehicles Stopped-801

DUI Arrests-41

Driving While Suspended/Revoked-6

So more than 5 percent - or 1 in 20 - drivers stopped that night were driving drunk. That's very frightening, considering 63 percent of the people killed in Kansas City crashes last year had an impaired driver involved. That does not count those who were seriously injured. Channel 5 had a sobering piece about a teen who has to undergo multiple surgeries and lost his best friend thanks to a drunk driver.

The driving-while-suspended number also is frightening. Most of these people had their licenses revoked initially because of drunk driving.

Just two nights later, police conducted another sobriety checkpoint in another spot known for DUI crashes: 7712 Wornall. Here are the results of that one:

Vehicles Stopped-357

DUI Arrests-11

Driving While Suspended/Revoked-2

Ignition Interlock Device Violation-1

A little better with just 3 percent of cars stopped having an impaired driver, but still far, far too many. And the ignition interlock device violation comes from a person who has been convicted of drunk driving and must install a device that measures their blood alcohol levels before they can start the car. This person did not install that device.
While fatality crashes elsewhere in Missouri and the nation continue to go down, Kansas City's continue to go up. Impaired driving is to blame for nearly two-thirds of those fatalities, and it must stop.
 
Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org.

Youth seat belt enforcement campaign is March 15-31

In addition to the extra DUI enforcement we're conducting around the St. Patrick's Day holiday (41 people were arrested at a checkpoint last night at 39th Street and Southwest Trafficway, and another checkpoint is scheduled this weekend), KCPD also has received grant funding to conduct extra seat belt enforcement, especially among teenagers. Here's the press release:

The Kansas City Missouri Police Department is joining with several other law enforcement agencies for an aggressive mobilization from March 15 to 31 to crack down on Missouri’s seat belt law violators in an effort to reduce traffic fatalities.

Nearly one in four Missourians still fail to regularly wear their seat belts when driving or riding in a motor vehicle. Teens are even less likely to wear their seat belts with only 66 percent regularly buckling up. Eight out of ten teens killed in traffic crashes are unbuckled.

"It’s that time of year when teen drivers are out more than ever,” Traffic Enforcement Unit Sergeant Grant Ruark said. “Warmer weather is approaching, and prom season is right around the corner, so it is important that we get as many of our young drivers and passengers to buckle up as possible. The statistics regarding teens and seat belt use are alarming. We’ve got to do more. We want them to ‘Arrive Alive.’”

For information on Missouri seat belt usage, visit www.saveMOlives.com.


Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org.

Police, MoDOT unveil new tool to combat drunk driving

PRESS RELEASE:

The Kansas City Missouri Police Department will unveil a new tool Tuesday that will help with the effort to get drunk drivers off the road.

Police presented the new Mobile DUI Enforcement Center (MDEC) at a news conference at March 15 behind KCPD’s Metro Patrol Division Station. The MDEC was funded by a grant from the Missouri Department of Transportation.

The vehicle is being unveiled in advance of the statewide crackdown on drunk driving during the St. Patrick’s Day holiday. KCPD plans two DUI checkpoints between March 16 and 20.

Kansas City, Mo., significantly leads the state in alcohol-involved crashes, alcohol-involved fatal crashes and alcohol-involved serious injury crashes. About 63 percent of Kansas City’s traffic deaths in 2010 were attributed to someone driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. KCPD worked to get these dangerous drivers off the road by making 1,661 DUI arrests in 2010.

The new, grant-funded $395,000 Mobile DUI Enforcement Center will allow Kansas City Police to combat drunk drivers at sobriety checkpoints and other impaired driving enforcement operations. Officers will be able to process up to five impaired drivers at once and administer breath alcohol tests. The MDEC also has built-in computers that will be connected to the department’s network.

The MDEC replaces a 24-year-old recreational vehicle KCPD had been using as a command post at sobriety checkpoints.

“The Mobile DUI Enforcement Center will replace the Mobile Operations Sobriety Testing vehicle currently used,” said Sergeant Ron Podraza, supervisor of KCPD’s DUI Section. “The outdated MOST is an RV fabricated to serve as a breath testing vehicle. The MDEC was designed to serve as a DUI enforcement center during sobriety checkpoint operations. Knowing that funding for this type of vehicle only comes along once in a generation, the MDEC was built with longevity in mind. The MDEC will serve our citizens for many years to come, combating the scourge of impaired drivers."

Kansas City Police also plan to take the MDEC to community events for the public to tour. It will be used during the St. Patrick's Day enforcement later this week.

Police crack down on persistent DUI offenders

This week, Dec. 6-9, Kansas City Police have made a concerted effort to bring drunk drivers to justice. Officers went after persistent DUI offenders - those who have been charged with the crime multiple times - who had warrants for their arrest. Police cleared a total of 113 warrants, 55 of which were felonies. One man even answered his door smoking drugs and holding a semi-automatic handgun. He was arrested for warrants, possession of narcotics and possession of illegal firearms. Five guns were recovered from his home, including one  that was stolen.

I have mentioned previously that we were really focusing on stopping drunk drivers this week. We have attacked the problem from many angles - going after those who have eluded justice this past week, and this weekend, we'll have a DUI checkpoint to stop those who could be a danger on the roads. One of our officers is still in the hospital because of the actions of a drunk driver, and he will have to spend months recovering before he can return to duty.

The Department of Transportation has dubbed this week's enforcement efforts "You Drink, You Drive, You Lose." It's the truth.

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org

83 arrested for DUI in two-week enforcement campaign

PRESS RELEASE:

Joining other law enforcement agencies across the nation, the Kansas City Missouri Police Department recently focused extra enforcement efforts on impaired driving laws during the You Drink & Drive, You Lose campaign August 20 through September 6. During the effort, the DUI Section conducted four sobriety checkpoints and one DUI Wolfpack in addition to regular-duty-hour DUI enforcement. Jackson County Sheriff Deputies and Missouri State Highway Patrol Troopers assisted with some of the checkpoints. Resulting from this enforcement effort was the following arrest activity:

Vehicles stopped-2,635
DUI Arrests-83
Driving While Suspended/Revoked-9
Hazardous Moving Violations-56
Other Traffic Violations-12
Possession of Cocaine-1
Possession of Marijuana -2
Felony Eluding-1
Ignition Interlock Device Violation-1
City warrant arrests -4

Driving while intoxicated remains one of the top causes of fatal car crashes in Missouri. In 2009, 268 people in Missouri were killed and 1,134 seriously injured in crashes involving an impaired driver. Enforcement efforts like this one help to take impaired drivers off the road and make travel in Missouri safer.

For more information on impaired driving visit www.saveMOlives.com.

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org

DUI laws get tougher amid enforcement crack down Aug. 20 - Sept. 6

Kansas City Police are joining law enforcement agencies around the state and nation for a crack down on drunk driving Aug. 20 through Sept. 6, but state law is going to change right in the middle of this enforcement effort that will make drunk driving more costly than ever before.

On August 28, Missouri’s new Driving While Intoxicated legislation takes effect. This law does several things, according to the Missouri Department of Transportation’s (MoDOT) Division of Highway Safety. It will:

• Increase jail time for repeat DWI offenders and those with higher blood alcohol levels (0.15 percent or more – a fifth of those arrested for DWI in Kansas City in the first six months of 2010 fell into this category)

• Move more cases from municipal courts to state courts, where penalties can be tougher

• Mandate better record-keeping for DWI cases so that repeat offenders can be properly tracked; and

• Offer offenders opportunities to participate in a DWI court program that incorporates treatment and close monitoring instead of going to jail.

So if you’re caught driving intoxicated, you’ll be more likely to face charges in state court and more likely to go to jail, especially if it’s a repeat offense and/or your blood alcohol level is above 0.15 percent.

Beginning today, Kansas City Police will be conducting saturation patrols (wolf packs), sobriety checkpoints and taking other initiatives to really crack down on intoxicated drivers. Law enforcement agencies nationwide will be doing the same. This special enforcement effort lasts until Sept. 6, but police are always on the look-out for impaired drivers who can harm others or themselves. With this new law, it could cost you more than ever before, so please designate a sober driver.

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.

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org.

Impaired driving suspected in multiple fatal crashes over July 4 weekend

This past holiday weekend also was deadly on the roads. A total of five people died in four vehicle crashes in Kansas City from July 2 to 5. Three of the four crashes involved possible impairment (intoxicated drivers) as a contributing factor for the accidents.


Police also conducted a DUI checkpoint at 4040 Main from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. Friday night and early Saturday morning, stopping 745 cars and making 20 DUI arrests. 


These are such scary statistics, and for the loved ones of those who died in this weekend's crashes, they are far more than stats. They are terrible tragedies. Please don't contribute to another tragedy. Never, ever drive intoxicated.


Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org 

Kansas City Police join statewide impaired driving crackdown July 2-5

Law enforcement officers across Missouri will be cracking down on drunk driving with increased enforcement July 2-5. The Kansas City Missouri Police Department will be participating in this effort and will focus on reducing deaths and serious injuries caused by impaired drivers over the Fourth of July holiday weekend.


It’s never worth the risk to drive while under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Drivers could lose their license, pay large fines, or worst of all, cause a tragic loss of life. Consider some of the consequences:

-For the first conviction, or first conviction in over five years, your license will be suspended for 30 days followed by a 60 day suspension if a hardship license is not obtained.

-A second conviction results in a $1,000 fine, a year-long revocation of your license and up to a year in jail. You will also be required to install an ignition interlock system on your vehicle, preventing your car from starting when you have alcohol on your breath.

-Third and subsequent convictions can be penalized with up to a $5,000 fine, a 10 year license denial, and/or up to seven years in jail.

-If you cause a fatal crash with intoxicated, you could be charged with Involuntary Manslaughter, a felony resulting in up to seven years of jail time, a $5,000 fine or both.

-Insurance coverage will be difficult to find, and if you do, the rates will be significantly higher.


For more information on impaired driving visit www.saveMOlives.com

Officer struck by drunken driver

Few things in police work are ever “routine.” Something as normal as a traffic stop can turn into a life-or-death situation in an instant. (This happened last fall in south Kansas City). Once again, a police car dashcam captured one of these frightening moments, and the video is above (there is audio).

It was a little after 3:45 a.m. Friday, March 12. A sergeant had pulled over a drunk driver at 83rd and Troost, and other officers came on scene to help with the arrest. A 24-year-old officer was standing next to the driver’s door of the drunk man’s car beginning to take an inventory of the vehicle when they heard squealing tires, and another car driven by an intoxicated woman slammed into the first car, which slammed into the officer. You can see him being thrown to the pavement. It was an incredibly scary moment, but fortunately, the officer suffered only bumps and bruises to his right leg. He was taken to a hospital as a precaution but was released soon afterward.

This is yet another example of the dangers officers face every day and how dangerous drunk driving is for everyone on the road.

Send comments to kcpdchiefblog@kcpd.org