The approach of the holiday season might prove rough on Cape Girardeau County law enforcement agencies, who already having surpassed last year's DWI arrest totals, are forced to battle increasing drunk drivers with limited funding and manpower.

The holiday season traditionally has more alcohol-related traffic fatalities because people are traveling more often at night and on weekends, times when drivers are more likely to be drinking.

"This is definitely a time we need to be thinking about drunk drivers out there," said Lt. John R. Davis of the Cape Girardeau Police Department. "One in 10 drivers on a weekend are driving while impaired."

The sheriff's department has nearly doubled its 90 DWI arrests from last year, with 175 in 2002. Lt. Vince Diebold attributed this spike to a change in supervisors and better training. However, he said his department can't focus on DWIs.

"We're so limited on manpower," Diebold said. "We don't have enough officers to operate a sobriety checkpoint and keep an eye on the county."

In 2001, the cities of Cape Girardeau and Jackson and the county sheriff's department jointly reported 334 DWI arrests. This year, that number has already climbed to 442. These totals do not reflect arrests made by the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

According to the state's Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse, there has been a steady increase in DWI arrests for the county over the past several years, rising from 552 in 1995 to 631 in 2000. These figures do include patrol arrests.

Like the county, Jackson police Lt. Bob Bonney said his department also does not operate checkpoints due to manpower and money issues.

"Most of our DWI arrests are found by officers when a driver crosses a center line or doesn't stay in a single lane," he said.

Bonney said Jackson does add extra officers to cover the late-night New Year's shift, but the city doesn't see much of an increase in drunk drivers on other holidays.

Funding enough manpower to handle the rising situation remains a problem for each of the agencies.

"Sobriety checkpoints are an awesome tool to fight drunk driving, but they are so manpower intensive," Davis said.

Monthly not possible

Davis would like to operate a checkpoint monthly, but it takes 10 to 15 officers to operate a checkpoint efficiently and safely, and sometimes the money simply isn't available, he said. Even with a $3,500 grant obtained this year from the Missouri Division of Highway Safety, the department still dips into its own budget to fund overtime pay for operating checkpoints.

Last year, Cape Girardeau had 1,988 vehicle crashes, and 53 were alcohol-related. Another five crashes involved drivers impaired by drugs. As many as 23 drivers have been arrested during a single checkpoint in the city.

"Our goal in these checkpoints is not necessarily to just arrest drunk drivers," Davis said. "We send out advertising about when we're doing them, but the kicker is not to tell exactly when or where. We have to use these strategies to scare them off the roads -- that's the primary function of a sobriety checkpoint."

The Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of sobriety checkpoints in 1990 in U.S. v. Sitz. The court ruled sobriety checkpoints do not violate the Fourth Amendment ban on unreasonable searches because the intrusion is minimal, the danger of drunk drivers presents an immediate danger to others, and because they have shown to be effective.

Davis said an on-site supervisor makes sure a checkpoint operates under guidelines to guarantee that rights of motorists are not abused. Officers must also complete a 20-hour course on standardized sobriety testing.

"Typically, we try to stop every car," Davis said. "The intrusion is so minimal, most people don't mind it. We haven't had any bad feedback other than from drunk drivers."

One tool helping the department is a blood-alcohol testing van, donated about four years ago by the Missouri Division of Highway Safety. The vehicle operates as a self-contained police station, complete with a three-person cell for those arrested. The van is shared with other law enforcement agencies in Southeast Missouri, Davis said.

Prosecuting offendersLast year, the Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney's Office handled 365 DWI and blood-alcohol content cases, amounting to 15.8 percent of the office's caseload.

With a rise in DWI arrests in 2002, the office has already filed 454 DWI cases this year, said Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle.

The office filed 378 DWI cases in 2000, 409 cases in 1999 and 391 cases in 1998.

Typically, first- and second-time DWI offenders who were arrested by police are prosecuted in municipal court, but offenders arrested by the sheriff's department or the patrol are prosecuted in state court by the county prosecutor's office. In addition, those arrested three or more times are charged with a felony DWI by the county prosecutor.

"I think the worst thing to do for a first-time offender is to give just a fine, because then they go on their way and keep drinking and driving," Swingle said.

For a first offense, Swingle's office is willing to recommend a suspended imposition of sentence, as long as an accident or injury did not occur, and counseling for the offender.

For a second offense, the office seeks some jail time. The usual offer includes a six-month sentence, suspended in its execution with probation.

For a felony DWIs, Swingle's office recommends prison sentences, but it generally will not oppose the court retaining a 120-day jurisdiction for an offender to take part in a prison alcohol treatment program. After an offender spends 120 days in prison, the case can be brought back to the court's attention and the offender's behavior and progress are evaluated, possibly earning him probation. Swingle said about 75 percent of the felony DWI offenders his office prosecutes have been sent to prison.

Last year, Missouri gave law enforcement and the courts a boon by lowering the legal blood-alcohol content limit from .10 to .08 percent, something Swingle said was needed a long time ago to help save lives.

"I think the tremendous positive from the lowering of the blood-alcohol content level is the deterrent effect it has. The gentleman on the street is now more aware that three or four beers could put him in jail if he drives."

mwells@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 160