Austin police said they made a typical number of driving while intoxicated arrests over the Halloween weekend, despite the huge turnout on Sixth Street.
They credited the success of Austin Police Department's "no refusal" weekend.
In all, there were about 74 arrests made throughout the City of Austin from Friday to Sunday.
A court order allowed blood to be drawn from 26 suspected drunk drivers, who refused to submit to a breath test.
Police said even though the threat of being subjected to a blood test didn't keep everyone from driving drunk, their efforts will pay off in those 26 cases.
"This is going to be effective when the judges and juries have that information and know beyond a reasonable doubt what that driver's blood alcohol was," Cmdr. Donald Baker said.
Austin police said they are looking into putting the no refusal policy into place year-round.
However, police will not be able to use Travis County's on-staff phlebotomist after Jan. 1, so they will have to find a different solution
No comments:
Post a Comment