Drunk o' the Irish

St. Patrick's Day brings higher than average DUI arrests

 by Matt Culbertson
 published on Thursday, March 20, 2008

Drinking and partying during St. Patrick's Day festivities led to more arrests for driving under the influence and higher than normal blood-alcohol concentrations, Tempe police said.

A DUI task force including more than 20 officers from various departments made 151 traffic stops and arrested 23 people on Sunday and Monday, police reported.

The task force consisted of police from the Tempe, Gilbert and Scottsdale police departments, as well as the Arizona Department of Public Safety, said Tempe police spokesman Steve Carbajal.

"Obviously there's a lot of consumption of alcohol related to St. Patrick's Day," he said. "[The arrests] are higher than average for sure."

Scottsdale Police Department's DUI arrest numbers were not available as of late Wednesday, said spokesman David Pubins.

Carbajal said the number of DUI arrests was unusually high for the East Valley. He estimated the average number for the same time period was about eight to 12 DUI arrests, he said.

ASU Police reported two arrests for DUIs over the weekend, but Cmdr. Jim Hardina said in an e-mail that the number was not unusual.

"There [were] no crime trends noticed," said Hardina, a spokesman for ASU Police.

A recent East Valley DUI task force in late January netted more than 120 arrests, according to a DPS report.

Carbajal added that the average BAC of people arrested was higher than usual.

Five of the 23 arrests were for extreme DUI, or a BAC higher than .15. Arizona's legal limit is .08, though a driver can be arrested "if the person is impaired to the slightest degree."

On St. Patrick's Day, Tempe and Gilbert police reported an average BAC of those arrested at 0.206.

"The people who were being [arrested] were basically double the legal limit," Carbajal said of St. Patrick's Day.

The two departments reported an average BAC of .103 for arrestees during both days. With DPS included, the average BAC was .112.

DUI task forces are effective at combating drunk driving, Carbajal said.

While the task force's primary role is enforcement, the high police visibility also serves as a deterrent for people who may decide to drive while intoxicated, he said.

"The idea is we want to be able to saturate an area with police officers," he added.

Biology sophomore Kristy Sorenson said she saw people choosing not to drive drunk firsthand because of a noticeable police presence.

"The more visible [police] are, the more nervous people get about taking risks like that," she said.

Carbajal said another DUI task force would probably be deployed within the next few months.

"I would imagine the next one would be around Cinco de Mayo," he said.

Reach the reporter at: matt.culbertson@asu.edu.