DUI Enforcement Unit

Mission

To identify and investigate drug and alcohol impaired drivers, and provide support to Highway Patrol, local and county agencies through training and logistical support.

Overview

The Metro Phoenix Highway Patrol Bureau is committed to promoting the safe and expeditious use of the highway transportation system. Impaired drivers on metropolitan freeways pose a threat to the safety and well being of the citizens of the State of Arizona. The Metro DUI Enforcement Unit was created to specialize in the detection, investigation, and arrest of alcohol and/or drug impaired drivers.

The DUI Enforcement Unit consists of one sworn sergeant, six sworn officers, and one civilian employee. The unit is dedicated to not only the arrest and prosecution of drug and alcohol impaired drivers, but in assisting other Highway Patrol officers with DUI investigations. This assistance includes, but is not limited to, drug recognition evaluations, phlebotomy, hospital follow up, collision investigation, and search warrants.

Training

Officers of the DUI Enforcement Unit teach at the Arizona Department of Public Safety Advanced Basic Academy, training new officers in the detection of impaired drivers, as well as procedures for successful investigation and prosecution. Officers in the unit also teach advanced officer training in the areas of Law Enforcement Phlebotomy, Drug Recognition, Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus, and Standardized Field Sobriety Testing. This training is for Highway Patrol Officers, as well as personnel from county and local jurisdictions.

Support

The DUI Enforcement Unit operates a DUI mobile processing van that supports Metro Phoenix Highway Patrol officers, other Highway Patrol districts, and local police agencies. The DUI van program has assisted in processing 5300 impaired drivers since its inception in 1996.

In 2003, The DUI Enforcement Unit alone arrested more than 1200 impaired drivers, and assisted Highway Patrol with processing 460 impaired drivers. The civilian DUI Van operator is a quality assurance specialist and phlebotomist, which assists sworn officers with staying on the roadways to better promote traffic enforcement and collision reduction programs.

The DUI Enforcement Unit regularly joins forces the Metro Highway Patrol officers and eleven other police agencies of the East Valley DUI Task Force to remove impaired drivers from Arizona Streets. During a 17-day period in November and December of 2003, the East Valley DUI Task Force made 2,135 DUI arrests, and the Arizona Department of Public Safety was responsible for 313 of those arrests.

This information is courtesy of http://www.dps.state.az.us/