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Mobile Unit Seeks Impaired Motorists

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By LISA A. DAVIS

ldavis@tampatrib.com

Published: February 12, 2009

NEW PORT RICHEY - Deputies have one more weapon against DUI offenders: A newish mobile DUI enforcement unit.

The trailer isn't exactly new - nearly two decades old - but the onetime Crime Prevention Unit has been repurposed as the DUI Enforcement Mobile Unit.

The $30,000 transformation was funded in part by a $16,000 grant from Pasco's Alliance for Substance Abuse Prevention, known as ASAP. The remaining $14,000 used to spruce up and outfit the once-moldy trailer came from the Pasco County Sheriff's Office's federal forfeiture funds.

"Thanks to the drug dealers of Pasco County we were able to furbish this and finish out the grant," Pasco Sheriff Bob White said Wednesday, smiling outside his administration building. "Everyone plays a role in this."

The shiny 46-foot-long trailer was shown off to the media Wednesday before it makes its official debut Valentine's Day.

Between 8 p.m. Saturday and 4 a.m. Sunday, the trailer will be parked in a plaza at 5902 U.S. 19 N., north of Cross Bayou Boulevard, waiting for motorists who are beyond being drunk on love.

"Get your significant other flowers, not a bottle of Jim Beam," White joked.

At least four times a month, the unit will be staffed by deputies and will serve as a command center at driver checkpoints throughout the county, but usually will be stationed between New Port Richey and Holiday.

'An Exciting Opportunity'

ASAP, a coalition focused on the prevention of underage drinking, sought out the sheriff's office when looking for ways to partner with the community in its plight. The grant has been in the works for two years but the trailer project has been under way for six to eight months, said Tracey Kaly, ASAP chairwoman.

"It's an exciting opportunity for us to partner with the Pasco County Sheriff's Office," she said. "Hopefully, just the sight of it will be a deterrent for drunk drivers."

ASAP commissioned a study reviewing DUI habits of Pasco motorists and learned the highest arrests for DUIs were for drivers between the ages of 18 and 24, Kaly said.

White said he hopes to send a message to teens and young adults.

"If you're going to drink and drive, they're going to get caught up in this," he said, motioning to the unit parked behind him.

The Selective Traffic Enforcement Program Unit, which has one sergeant and six deputies and primarily focuses on drivers who are under the influence of drugs or alcohol, will be the group that uses the DUI trailer.

Trailer Has All Necessary Tools

The trailer has two tiny holding cells, a drug recognition expert evaluation room, two Breathalyzer stations and an office where deputies can check a DUI suspect's criminal and driving histories and finish up paperwork.

"Everything they can do here, they can do at the jail," said STEP supervisor Sgt. Art Rowand.

That means the arrest process is faster. A grant also covers the cost of a transport vehicle, which will allow a deputy to take several arrestees to the jail at one time rather than having individual deputies drive a single suspect to the Land O' Lakes Jail for booking, which is how it has worked in the past.

"It just frees up more deputies for long periods of time," White said.

And time is something deputies definitely need, they say, to get drunken drivers off the streets.

"They estimate you get only one out of 80" impaired drivers, Rowand said.

Reporter Lisa A. Davis can be reached at (727) 815-1083.

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