Intensive DWI Supervision in Urban Areas--Feasibility Study.

摘要

Drivers with prior convictions for driving while impaired (DWI) carry a higher risk of future DWI arrests and crash involvement. In response, communities have developed various strategies to address the drinking-driving problems of DWI offenders by assisting them in making positive behavioral changes to reduce their likelihood of recidivism. One program model developed to monitor offender drinking involves having an offender report twice daily to a law enforcement office for alcohol breath testing at 12-hour intervals. To date, these 24/7 sobriety programs have been used in rural States and communities; however, the program model is being considered for implementation in additional locales. The purpose of this project was to conduct a feasibility study to gather data on whether the 24/7 program model can be applied in urban locales, and if so, what changes might be necessary. In Phase 1 of the study, structured discussions were held with State and local officials in Montana; North Dakota; South Dakota; and Fremont County, Wyoming, to develop a complete description of the history of 24/7 programs in rural areas. In Phase 2, information from Phase 1 was used to conduct discussions with local officials in two urban areas--Washington, DC, and Fairfax County, Virginia--to obtain their impressions about whether and how a 24/7 program could be operated in their jurisdictions. Urban officials reserved judgment about whether such a program would affect offender drinking, impaired driving, and crashes, though most believed it would help identify those who are alcohol-dependent and assist in connecting them with needed resources. Despite potential benefits, officials were generally cautious but somewhat open to the prospects regarding program feasibility. This tempered reaction was a function of concerns about practical issues of implementation and broader concerns about the value of and need for twice-daily testing programs in urban locations.