Law enforcement set to battle entrenched drunk drivers

Times are tough for drunken drivers, and law enforcement is looking to make them tougher. Harsher penalties and fines, extended enforcement zones and closing a legal loophole are new weapons being used against motorists who drink and drive.

Following years of decline in drunken driving-related fatal accidents - starting with increased focus on the crime in the early 1980s - fatalities have leveled off around 13,000 per year nationwide during this decade.

Authorities say the blame rests, in large part, with chronic drunken drivers, and are targeting them. "Chronic drunk drivers are a serious threat to the safety of everyone in the community, and law enforcement is concentrating an increasing amount of effort in getting them off the road," said Lake County State's Attorney Michael Waller. "The vast majority of people charged with DUI get one and never do it again, those with multiple offenses are a menace."

Defense attorneys say some aspects of the crackdown are over the top, and substance abuse counselors warn harsh prison sentences are not enough.

Still, area prosecutors say some of the examples of habitual offenders are startling and warrant the innovation.

One is Alfredo Sanchez, 23, of Round Lake Beach, who has eight DUI arrests and five convictions, as well as two cases pending in the Lake County court system.

He was charged with his seventh DUI in Mundelein on Jan. 6, and was released from jail after posting $7,500 for bond. Five months later on June 16, Sanchez was again charged with DUI in Mundelein. He could get 30 years for each offense if convicted.

He is held in jail on $150,000 bond and is due in court Oct. 23.

"It really is going to take a change of the culture for some people," Gurnee police Chief Robert Jones said. "We are doing all sorts of programs aimed at public education and still there are those who will not recognize the danger."

Two efforts tried this year in Kane and Lake counties were designed to identify DUI suspects and get them off the road.

Kane County used the Memorial Day weekend and Lake County used Labor Day weekend - holidays that traditionally feature an increase in drunken driving - to mount "no refusal" enforcement.

DUI suspects who refuse to take a breath test to measure blood-alcohol level are taken to meet with a prosecutor who informs them a search warrant is going to be issued for a blood draw.

Christopher Nelson, of the Kane County state's attorney's office, said it's a weapon aimed at the more experienced drunken driver.

"People who refuse the breath test are rolling the dice with the system," Nelson said. "They know that their license will be suspended for six months if they refuse, but if they blow and get convicted, the license is revoked for at least a year."

Nelson said Kane County State's Attorney John Barsanti supports legislation that would boost the suspension period for refusing a test to equal that of a conviction.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there are varying rates for drivers who refuse breath tests, ranging from 2.4 percent in Delaware to 81 percent in New Hampshire. In Illinois, statistics show up to 40 percent of DUI suspects refuse a breath test.

The results of the "no refusal" use in Kane and Lake counties showed most suspects took the test. In Kane County, for example, six of 14 drivers suspected of DUI immediately submitted to the breath test. Of the eight who did not, four immediately changed their minds when informed a search warrant would be issued. Four warrants were issued.

Only one of 18 drivers charged with DUI during Lake County's no refusal program refused the test.

"I think our experience showed that the search warrant approach can be effective," Waller said. "We want to be able to identify the habitual drunken driver and get him or her off the road."

Anyone who refuses to submit to a blood test after the warrant is issued faces contempt of court proceedings.

Lake County's program was also noteworthy because it expanded the scope of enforcement beyond a single location.

State, local and county police were coordinated in an enforcement zone on the entire length of Milwaukee Avenue, from the Cook County line in Buffalo Grove north to Gurnee. It used saturation patrols and roadside safety checks.

Penalties for multiple DUI convictions also have been strengthened to include mandatory prison sentences of at least six years, fines can range up to $25,000 and a person's drivers license is revoked for life with a fourth conviction.

Proponents say "no refusal" is constitutional because the law gives a motorist the right to refuse a breath test, but it also allows for use of search warrants to collect evidence of criminal activity.

Defense attorneys see some aspects of this crackdown as draconian.

"I understand that drunken driving is a major problem," Waukegan attorney Jed Stone said. "But I have a hard time seeing a person go to prison for years upon years just for being the town drunk."

Others, such as noted DUI lawyer Donald Ramsell of Wheaton, have questioned mandatory blood draws as Orwellian in forcing the will of authority on citizens.

Bruce Johnson, the chief executive officer of Nicasa, which provides substance abuse counseling throughout Northern Illinois, said he supports stiffer penalties for repeat DUI offenders, including prison terms. However, he also believes counseling should be a greater factor than it is now.

"There is an unfortunate thought process in the mind of a person who does this over and over again," Johnson said. "Any punishment that does not attempt to change that will simply send the person back into society with the same thought process."

Technology will play a future role in the crackdown of habitual offenders.

Starting in January, any person whose license is suspended for DUI who applies for a restricted driving permit will have to have a machine installed in their car that will check the driver's blood alcohol content before unlocking the ignition.

In the not so distant future, such a device may be a part of everyone's vehicle.

Mothers Against Drunk Drivers and government agencies are studying emerging technology in alcohol detection, including devices that could become standard equipment in vehicles.

Among the methods being studied are portable breath testing machines and touch sensors that can measure blood alcohol through the skin.

MADD cites surveys showing a majority of Americans support the idea of having detection systems in all cars if they would reduce drunken driving and cut insurance rates.

"And I think it is a perfectly good idea," Gurnee's Jones said. "It makes no sense to put all of society at risk because we do not have the ability to stop people from driving impaired."