Grant will increase Mass. DUI arrests and traffic tickets
The Highway Safety Division of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security has announced the availability of $1,450,000 in federal grant money for Massachusetts police departments, to be used for traffic enforcement, DUI patrols, “speed traps” and similar initiatives which will result in drunk driving arrests, license suspensions, and the issuance of traffic and speeding tickets.
The goal of the grant program is to reduce speeding and impaired driving, and to increase safety belt use through high visibility measures. The program urges Massachusetts police departments to take a zero-tolerance approach to DUI and other traffic violations. The grant funding is being made available to all Massachusetts City and Town police departments as well as qualified university and college campus police agencies.
Departments are required to conduct a minimum of 3 documented motor vehicle stops per hour; if less than the historic statewide average of 2.5 car stops per hour. Failure to comply with this may result in loss of funding. In addition to having to stop a certain number of motor vehicles per hour, the program encourages “zero tolerance” and it encourages departments to submit a signed a zero-tolerance policy for enforcement during all the mobilizations. This strongly suggests that officers will not be allowed to use discretion and instead will be pressured to write citations instead of warnings and make arrests in situations where they otherwise may not have done so.
Police Departments can use the traffic enforcement grant money to pay officers overtime and to buy equipment such as LIDAR units, Radar guns, and preliminary breath test devices (PBTs). The grant can also be used to purchase breathalyzer supplies and staff DUI sobriety checkpoints, which are also known as drunk driving roadblocks, which are conducted with the Mass. State Police.
Except in emergencies, officers assigned to the program will be dedicated in total to traffic law enforcement, which means writing tickets and making arrests for motor vehicle violations such as DUI, drunk driving, driving on a suspended license, reckless driving, negligent operation, driving without insurance, speeding, and failure to stop for a red light or stop sign. Convictions for any of these violations will result in substantial insurance premium increases, in the form of insurance surcharges and they may result in license suspensions as well as other unforseen but expensive consequences.
I just received this e-mail:
