DUI Problem On The Rise In Central Florida

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – In some parts of Central Florida, the number of individuals taken into custody for DUI is increasing.

In 2014, 668 individuals were taken into custody in Orange County by the Sheriff’s Office as showed by the stats released on Tuesday afternoon. That is just over a 4 percent increase from the 641 DUI arrests made by the officers over the same period in 2013.

Orange County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Brad Roberts, who supervises the DUI unit said, “You can’t catch everyone. That’s virtually impossible. But we do what we can. The guys work their butts off. They deserve all the credit they can get, because it’s nonstop for them, night after night”.

In 2014, Robert’s evening traffic unit has seen a 20 percent increase in arrests. A major focus of OCSO’s DUI squad is the east side of town, near the University of Central Florida. He said, “We work a lot around the college, because you know, when I was their age I thought I was bulletproof too. I thought I could do anything and I would not be held accountable for it. And we’re seeing an increase in that area as well as other areas”.

In 2013, 70 individuals were taken into custody for DUI by the UCF Police Chief Richard Beary and his officers, teaching many students the hard way that they will be held accountable. But Beary believes there is a lesson to be learnt beyond the arrest. “It’s not just about getting arrested. It’s not just about getting a record. It’s about taking another human’s life. It’s about putting someone in a wheelchair for the rest of their life”.

Other than giving education to the students at universities, Beary wants parents to play a greater role. “I think we need to educate parents that drinking and driving is a problem, and you can’t wait for them to get to college to have that conversation. You need to have that conversation when they’re in middle school, and you need to have that conversation every time there’s a report of a drunk driver”.

Roberts said that this education is critical. He also said his deputies don’t get bonuses for taking more individuals into custody for DUI. Instead, they’re motivated to get drunk drivers off the road by seeing the carnage caused by DUI deaths firsthand. He added, “When you roll up and you see dead college kids, those drivers (responsible) are not the ones having to tell these parents your baby’s dead. It’s us as law enforcement”.

In 2013, Orange County had the most DUIs with 3,031 about 25 DUIs for every 10,000 residents. But when population is taken into account, Brevard County had the highest rate of DUI arrests, almost 31 for every 10,000 residents, with a total of 1,671 arrests. Seminole County’s 628 arrests were the lowest for DUI with almost 15 for every 10,000 residents. 1,110 individuals were taken into custody in Volusia County, which is almost 22 arrests per 10,000 residents. Osceola County’s DUI arrest rate per 10,000 residents was almost the same. Lake County’s DUI arrest rate per 10,000 residents was a bit higher at 26. The total number of individuals taken into custody was 793.

The city with the highest rate of DUI arrests per population was Daytona Beach Shores. The department, serving the city of just 4,258, took 69 individuals into custody in 2013. By comparison, Ormond Beach also had 69 individuals taken into custody for DUI and the total number of people living there is 38,376.

Daytona Beach Shores Public Safety Director Stephen Dembinksy credits this high arrest rate not to more drunk drivers on his roads but instead to the unique public safety model at his department. Dembinksy said, “Every police officer you see on street is also a firefighter and has all his gear with him. So I have twice as many police officers on the street or twice as many firefighters on the street”. According to him, all agencies in Volusia County struggle hard to put drunk drivers in prison and stressed that “a small town like this wouldn’t have this many officers on the street if it wasn’t for the public safety model”.

News Source: www.ClickOrlando.com