By Blake Haas
BLOOMINGTON – A new study from the Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists ranks the Twin Cities top amongst the state in driving while intoxicated arrests.
According to the Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists, Bloomington-Normal is ranked fifth in the state with 237 DUI arrests in 2017. With 53 sworn officers, that averages out to 4.47 arrests per officer.
“We’re not doing any type of extra patrols,” said McLean County Sheriff Jon Sandage. “These are all of our guys [who] are out there at all times [of the day].”
DeWitt County came in 17th with 72 arrests, while Tazewell came in 18th with 70 arrests and Ford County came in 53rd with 10 DUI arrests. Sandage said while McLean County ranks in the top five, they are actively patrolling the roads at all times of the day.
“Our guys are actively out there patrolling our roads and we’re looking for them,” said Sandage. “We have known the past couple of years that the more concentration that we put into DUI enforcement we see results and a drop in our accident rate. Our guys are actively out there looking to get drunk drivers out from behind the wheel.”
McLean County had six DUI arrests from July 4-9, but Sandage said the number of arrests has a balance beam effect.
“It’s good in the fact that we are getting them off of the road, but it’s bad that the fact that we have to do it anyway,” added Sandage. “Evidently our message about drinking and driving isn’t getting out to some people, but it is good that we are getting [drunk drivers] off of the road before they cause an accident.”
One of the main things to lower the rate, Sandage said, is to watch to make sure someone does not get behind the wheel after a few drinks.
“Try and get their keys from them,” added Sandage. “Have a sober driver offer them a ride. There is always Uber or taxi services. With the number of taxi services and other means of getting transportation in this community, there is no excuse for driving intoxicated.”
Blake Haas can be reached at [email protected].
