Behind the Badge
Chats about weekend plans, high school football and local restaurants were among dozens of brief conversations Tustin police engaged in with motorists on a recent Friday night.
Stopped in the middle of Red Hill Avenue, officers introduced themselves, smiled and asked questions.
Although genuine, the conversations were more than idle chit-chat.
With each interaction, the officers were looking for signs of impairment — eyes that don’t focus quite right, slurred speech or alcohol on the breath.
The officers also asked outright: “Have you had anything to drink tonight?”
Some motorists admitted to drinks with dinner or a quick beer at a friend’s house, which meant further evaluation.
The vast majority of drivers, however, were waved through and wished a good night.
Tustin PD Officer Bonnie Breeze talks to a driver in a Corvette stopped at a DUI checkpoint.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge OC
On a recent Friday night, more than 700 motorists passed through Tustin PD’s sobriety and license checkpoint held just north of the 5 freeway.
Police stopped 175 vehicles and administered six field sobriety tests, but no arrests were made.
No arrests isn’t necessarily a bad thing, police pointed out.
While one goal of a sobriety and license checkpoint is to pull dangerous drivers off the road, they also serve as a tool to deter drinking and driving.
The mere presence of brightly lit, cone-lined traffic lanes with uniformed officers stopping every several cars is enough to remind residents that Tustin police are proactive in their search for impaired drivers.
A severely mangled vehicle — the result of a DUI collision — also is placed in the middle of the street at every checkpoint as added visual motivation for people to drive sober, said Tustin PD Sgt. Ryan Coe.
Tustin PD Drug Recognition Expert Jeremy Laurich shows the results of a DUI breathalyzer to another officer. The driver was able to pass the test and was allowed to drive home on his own.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge OC
The department aims to hold four checkpoints a year using grant funding from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
And they are never a secret.
“We advertise every checkpoint that we hold — it’s a requirement,” Coe said. “If advertising these means someone will think twice about drinking and driving and call a cab or ridesharing, it’s successful.”
Research shows a well-publicized checkpoint can reduce the number of people killed or hurt in alcohol-related crashes by about 20 percent.
Checkpoints, according to the NHTSA, are proven to be the most effective strategy to discourage drinking and driving. Across the country, there has been a notable drop in DUI fatalities since 2006, the NHTSA reported.
There are rules and regulations agencies must follow that dictate everything from where police can set up a checkpoint to how they stop drivers, Coe said.
Police use crime analyst data to determine areas with most DUI arrests and crashes and hold the operation there.
A checkpoint supervisor sets the ratio of drivers to stop based on traffic conditions. At Tustin PD’s most recent checkpoint, officers stopped four cars, then let four pass.
“Some people don’t understand why we stop some cars and not others, but it’s a number decided on by the supervisor,” Coe said. “We don’t randomly choose which cars to stop as they pass through.”
The most common misconception police field about sobriety checkpoints is whether or not they are a violation of a driver’s rights.
In a briefing before the Sept. 16 checkpoint, held in partnership with the California Highway Patrol, Coe showed several You Tube videos to educate officers on how best handle uncooperative drivers.
“These are 100 percent constitutional,” the sergeant said. “Yes, you have to roll your window down, and yes, you have to provide your license at a lawful DUI checkpoint.”
Holding regular checkpoints is just one of several efforts Tustin PD participates in to reduce the number of impaired drivers on the road.
The department also participates in Know Your Limit — a program that involves officers visiting local bars during peak hours to educate patrons on what it means to legally impaired.
Tustin PD also works with the local high schools to stage the impactful Every 15 Minutes program to drive home the dangers of drinking and driving to teens.
Tustin PD Officer Michelle Jankowski talks to drivers at a DUI checkpoint while Tustin PD Volunteer Rich Ruedas, right, hands out DUI pamphlets.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge OC
BY THE NUMBERS
Here’s a look at DUI crashes and arrests for the last five years in Tustin:
2012: 204 arrests and 72 collisions
2013: 191 arrests and 57 collisions
2014: 177 arrests and 58 collisions
2015: 213 arrests and 57 collisions
2016: 119 arrests and 45 collisions (data as of Oct. 4)
Rich Ruedas, a Tustin PD volunteer, passes out DUI pamphlets, written in English and Spanish, to each car explaining the dangers of driving while intoxicated and why the checkpoints are necessary.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge OC
Tustin PD Explorers Jaime Sandoval and Getzemany Falgado, right, look over the records they take down during a DUI checkpoint.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge OC
Tustin PD Drug Recognition Expert Jeremy Laurich explains to a driver the tests he will be asked to perform after being pulled over at a DUI checkpoint. The driver was able to pass the test and was allowed to drive away on his own.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge OC
Tustin PD Sgt. Sara Fetterling, a Drug Recognition Expert, runs a driver through a set of tests after being pulled over at a DUI checkpoint. The driver was able to pass the test and was allowed to drive away on his own.
Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge OC
