HARRISBURG – Pennsylvania State Police arrested 16,156 people for driving under the influence last year, a 3 percent increase over the number arrested for DUI in 2007 and the highest total for a single year in the department’s history, Commissioner Frank E. Pawlowski announced today.
“We are using education, training and high levels of enforcement to target impaired drivers who pose a threat to themselves and other motorists,” Pawlowski said.
He said the number of alcohol-related crashes investigated by state police dropped 3 percent last year to 4,665, while the number of fatalities resulting from those crashes dropped 9 percent from 165 to 150.
Pawlowski said continued expansion of the department’s drug recognition expert program has played a key role in the department’s DUI-enforcement effort. The program trains troopers and municipal police officers to identify drivers operating under the influence of illegal or pre scri ption drugs and other substances.
“Although alcohol is the intoxicant most often responsible for impaired driving, it’s not the only one that renders individuals incapable of safe driving,” Pawlowski said.
Last year, drug recognition experts conducted 693 drug influence evaluations, an increase of 57 percent over the 440 evaluations conducted in 2007.
Fifty-one troopers and 14 municipal police officers in Pennsylvania have been certified as drug recognition experts since 2004, including the following who were certified last month:
Cpl. Kirk Reese, Troop A, Greensburg; Cpl. Joseph Loughran, Troop A, Ebensburg; Tpr. Adam Thomas, Troop A, Indiana; Cpl. Richard Douthit, Troop C, Tionesta; Cpl. Vic Sternby, Troop E, Meadville; Tpr. Derek Pacella, Troop G, Rockview; Tpr. Jeremy Baluh, Troop H, Harrisburg; Tpr. Garry Ford, Troop J, Ephrata; Tpr. Christopher Nacios, Troop M, Trevose; Tpr. Josh Miller, Troop N, Swiftwater; Officer Phil Lesoine, Lehigh Township Police Department; Officer Randy Epler, Towanda Police Department; Cpl. Jeff Hughes, Old Lycoming Township Police Department; Sgt. Robert Kromer, Bethlehem Police Department; Officer Todd Lindsay, Silver Spring Township Police Department; and Officer David Bibbee, Hopewell Township Police Department.
The department’s Operation Nighthawk also continued last year. The program, which is aimed at curbing drinking and driving, provides troopers and municipal police officers with classroom training on two consecutive evenings. The officers then immediately take part in roving patrols to identify and arrest operators who are driving under the influence.
Pawlowski said the department conducted two Operation Nighthawk sessions in 2008 and will do two or three this year. He added that although state police has stepped up its anti-DUI efforts, individual drivers – not law enforcement – hold the key to reducing the number of DUI crashes.
“Every driver in Pennsylvania has a responsibility to stay out of the driver’s seat when he or she is impaired by alcohol or other drugs,” he said.