According to officials in York County, Pennsylvania, in any given year, 125 drunk drivers are responsible for 600 DUI arrests. That statistic does a good job of illustrating what we know about the Hardcore Drunk Driver: That they’re dangerous, and that they are struggling with alcohol dependence and addiction.
Both the York Daily Record and news affiliate WPMT have taken a closer look at how York County officials are dealing with the epidemic. Working together, courts, probation, and the DAs office are closing the gap from arrest to supervision for drunk drivers with a previous offense who are arrested for another DUI. Repeat offenders are very often re-arrested soon after a DUI, a cycle of self-destruction driven by alcohol dependence. So instead of allowing repeat offenders who have a new DUI to drive unmonitored in the community for months while they await adjudication of their current offense, officials are requiring them to be monitored for alcohol 24/7 immediately following arrest.
The trend isn’t limited to York County. Lackawanna is reported by WPMT to be another Pennsylvania county that monitors repeat offenders pre-trial for alcohol. And states like North Carolina are passing legislation requiring Continuous Alcohol Monitoring pre-trial for repeat offenders. The tactic is part of a paradigm shift that is focusing resources on the Hardcore Drunk Drivers, working to control and address the addiction that is at the root of the criminal behavior.
According to York County Judge John S. Kennedy, they absolutely believe the tactic is reducing DUIs, since “very few” of the people they’ve monitored have had another DUI.
Way to Make a Difference, York, PA!
