DWI Arrests in Denton Hit Sky-High Record, Set to Beat Last Year’s Count

Driving while intoxicated arrests in Denton are set to break last year’s record, which was a total of 937. The cause, as stated by the supervisor at the Denton Police Department’s traffic unit, could be the increased enforcement of a lot of post-pandemic parties. As a result, the Denton Police has had 441 arrests from the months of January to June 2022, and many Denton DWI lawyers have been called to resolve the cases.

For the same period mentioned above in 2021, there were 434 arrests which are proof of the increase in DWI cases. However, Sgt. Daryn Briggs pointed out that the difference was kept to a minimum because two of his best officers have been receiving special training. Briggs also pointed out that the increase is due to a combination of more people committing offenses as well as people being caught.

According to Sgt., a contributing factor is the change in the department’s philosophy and culture, due to which more arrests have become possible.

He said, “we’ve done a lot of training for standardized field sobriety testing to get the officers comfortable. It’s not just six or seven officers doing it. It may be their favorite thing to do. But they understand the importance of it, and they’re not shying away from it.”

However, the common people’s behavior in the post-pandemic world is also a huge factor. “There are not as many restrictions on people’s behavior. They lived through the lockdown and not being able to do a lot of things, so that has changed how they approach their lives.”

The department’s inability to control the situation could also be due to the shortage of statewide staffing in law enforcement agencies.

Brigg said, “it’s not just us, even the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission doesn’t have as many field agents in the bars and doing all the regulatory work they do.”

At least 100 crashes were reported in the last six months of 2021 and a minimum of one impairment factor contributed to the accident. It was either alcohol or drugs or both in many cases. The Denton DWI lawyers have been of immense help in these cases.

In the first six months of 2022, the cases of crashes were reported to be 95, which is lesser than the previous year. However, Briggs is of the view that the numbers are not accurate.

What upsets Briggs, he says, is that all these accidents were completely preventable. Various can services are available that have designated sober drivers to drive people home. Yet, people choose to drive in an intoxicated state and cause harm to not just their own lives but that of others too.

Holidays are a common time when driving while intoxicated cases rise. Briggs assured that the department has plans for a DWI enforcement push around Labor Day, and during the last week of August, the DPD will participate in the Mothers Against Drunk Driving Saturation Saturday campaign.

The department also distributes awareness material about the dangers of intoxicated driving. Social media has been a helpful medium to spread awareness about the issue. Unfortunately, community meetings had come to a halt due to the pandemic.

Briggs is hopeful it will resume again. “I’m hoping community meetings will start to become the norm again,” he said. “If those groups reach out and want a presentation about whatever law enforcement topic, we have officers available for those things.”

If this sounds familiar, reach out to a Denton DWI Lawyer today to help with your case.