The Catfish Festival was a great success for the city and the county. However, the festival also marks the traditional beginning of the MCDA/TXDOT No Refusal grant cycle. In keeping with the tradition and unhindered by the federal shut-down, police, prosecutors, and medical staff joined forces this weekend for the county’s first full-time No Refusal of the 2014 Fiscal Year which runs from October this year through September 2014. Also in keeping with tradition by allegedly celebrating just a bit too much, 27 drivers were arrested for DWI from Thursday through Sunday this past week. Of the 27 arrests, prosecutors drafted 8 search warrants and police officers obtained 7 breath tests ranging from 0.106 to 0.203 as well as 10 voluntary blood tests. Constable Rowdy Hayden with Precinct Four assigned at least 7 deputies to work some of the roads that have traditionally seen a high number of DWI crashes, such as State Highway 105, FM 1314, and FM 1485. Other agencies also assisted in the effort including DPS with 10 arrests, MCSO with 5 arrests, CPD with 4 arrests, and Montgomery PD with 3 arrests. As an indication of the weekend’s successful enforcement effort, there were no charges filed out of DWI crashes involving serious bodily injury or death.
All people arrested are presumed to be innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. The names of the individuals arrested over the weekend for DWI are:
In addition, the District Attorney has released the 2013 fiscal year’s No Refusal results. The data compiled by Specialized Prosecutions Bureau Chief, Warren Diepraam, reveals that the fiscal year from October 2012 to September 2013 saw a record number of No Refusal warrants drafted for suspects arrested for DWI when compared to other years. During No Refusal hours, prosecutors successfully drafted 219 search warrants which were signed by a judge authorizing a blood draw after an arrested DWI suspect broke state law and refused to provide a scientific sample at the request of the arresting officer. The number of No Refusal warrants drafted typically outnumbers DWI blood warrants during off hours by about three times.
For the fiscal year, No Refusal prosecutors worked under the grant on 101 days of the fiscal year, mostly on weekends and during special events when drunk driving increases such as Spring Break or New Year’s Eve. During those No Refusal days, prosecutors assisted police by reviewing 762 DWI arrest cases for warrant suitability. As mentioned above, 219 No Refusal warrants were drafted on those 101 days. The county almost saw a record number of DWI arrests for the fiscal year totaling 2,449 DWI charges filed. Diepraam stated that we lost some of our top officers this fiscal year to transfers including Derek Peterson with DPS who transferred to North Texas, Todd Schmaltz with Shenandoah PD who transferred to Orange County, California, and Jason Prince with the Sheriff’s Office who transferred within the agency. However, there are several outstanding officers working in the county making our roads safer by actively looking for impaired drivers. DWI continues to be the number one crime in our county. Diepraam states that the number of people refusing scientific evidence requests continues to decline as a result of the program. The average refusal rate during program hours is approximately 10 percentage points lower than off hours. In addition, charges arising out of DWI fatal crashes are also off significantly as a result of the program and similar initiatives such as the “Bars and Cars Task Force.”
Montgomery County District Attorney, Brett Ligon, states that our county has been the deadliest in the state for DWI fatalities over the years; however, the MCDA/TXDOT No Refusal program seems to be saving lives and making a difference. The number of fatal DWI charges this year appears to be down as much as 50% or more compared to last year echoing the importance of the No Refusal program and the “Bars and Cars Task Force.” In addition to safer roads, the No Refusal program’s work with Texas Parks and Wildlife and others has also made Lake Conroe one of the safest in the state. Since starting No refusal on Lake Conroe, there have been no fatal BWI charges since 2009 when the program started. The lake, after seeing an increase in police efforts in 2009 and 2010, has noted steady decreases in Boating While Intoxicated cases. In fact, FY 2013 saw the lowest number of BWI arrests since record keeping began with only 21 BWI arrests. This has allowed law enforcement to focus their efforts on other crime issues.
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