In the nature of full disclosure I would like to say a couple of things before I get to my point: 1st is: I don't drink, don't care if you do, I just don't. Second is I believe that people who commit DUI's should get a much harsher punishments. Drinking and driving is like shooting into a crowd, your going to miss some people, but the ones you hit will be fatal.
On that note, I want to discuss the story I read this morning about Mesa County buying a DUI van. This is the whole story I read, copied from kjct8.com:
DUI crackdown was one of the major topics at this months Mesa County Meeting.
The Sheriff's Office wants to purchase an impaired driving enforcement toxicological testing vehicle. The DUI van would allow the officers to check for blood alcohol content at any location without having to take suspected drunk drivers to the jail.
The van will cost over $160-thousand, but it will all be covered by grants. With the recent rash of DUI fatalities... the commissioners feel the necessity of this equipment is dire.
The story is slim so I may not have the all information, but these are my first thoughts:
1) Is there a huge issue with police transporting suspects to jail to do DUI tests? Is it just too time consuming? If so, why are we going to have yet another vehicle (and at least 1 other person) take a van to the scene, do the tests, then haul the suspect back to the jail?
2) I have been seen a lot of bureaucracies and I never trust them when they use names like: Impaired Driving Enforcement Toxicological Testing Vehicle instead of DUI van.
3) I know the cost of vans has went up, but $160 grand for a van, people get real. Oh it's a DUI van so they had to put a blood draw kit in it, I guess medical costs have went up.
4) The cost of the van is covered by grants, it doesn't say whose grants but it's a pretty safe bet it leads back to federal government. Just because it is a grant doesn't mean it is free money, somebody pays, somewhere.
5) We are going to spend $160,000 on a van to assist with DUI's but nobody could spend a couple hundred bucks for 2 more stop signs at 23 and G road, an intersection that has already killed 3.
At first look, maybe we should step back and look at this one a little closer.
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