Cops steer community to drive sober

Idaho State Police, local police, Kootenai County Sheriff’s deputies and other peace officers from throughout Idaho will be working together in a holiday push in the Panhandle to target DUIs.

“Our goal is to reduce the amount of crashes or fatalities from impaired driving,” said Sgt. of Patrol Jeff Howard. “So far this year, we’ve had zero fatal crashes from a DUI on county roads. Idaho State Police have had fatal DUI crashes, but for Kootenai County we have not had a death this year due to a DUI.”

Howard will lead the Kootenai County Sheriff’s deputies in collaboration with ISP on an aggressive DUI task force scheduled for New Year’s Eve.

“You cannot drive while under the influence,” said Justin Scotch, supervisor for the state troopers on the task force.

Howard and Scotch are part of a team that coordinates a handful of task forces throughout the year.

“The harder we go out and the more cops we put on the road looking for impaired drivers, the less fatal crashes we have,” said Lt. Allen Ashby from ISP.

The team formed in 2019 to respond to increases in incidents of drunk driving.

“We know that if the number of DUI arrests are down, we know that the number of fatalities go up.” Ashby said.

There were a number of crashes that exposed a developing problem, but Ashby remembers one, particularly.

Ryan Allen was struck by a drunk driver while riding his bicycle when he was a child, and was left permanently disabled. Then, while driving with his parents in 2019, their van was struck by a drunk driver in Kootenai County and Allen was killed.

When ISP sees statistics that reveal increasing trends, the department feels compelled to do something to stop it, Ashby said.

That incident, among other crashes caused by impaired drivers that year, were instigating events that formed a “swarm,” Ashby said, where multiple departments teamed to create an aggressive push against drunk driving.

Spirit Lake Police, Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office, Coeur d’Alene Police, Post Falls Police, the Cd’A Tribal Police Department, and others joined to form the North Idaho DUI task force.

As a result of the push, injury crashes are down this year, Howard said.

The task force focuses on three pillars to reduce crashes, he said: community awareness, education and enforcement.

During peak times like New Year’s Eve, the Super Bowl and Memorial Day through Labor Day, the task force calls in additional staff from the state and works long overtime to target DUIs in Kootenai County and the Panhandle. The overtime and added staff are funded by grants targeted to increase traffic safety.

On New Year’s Eve of 2021, there were around 15 DUI arrests, four in Kootenai County, with zero fatal crashes, Howard said.

“The harder we go out, and the more cops we put on the road looking for DUIs, the less fatal crashes we have,” he said.

Charges for DUIs are up 17% over this time last year, and injury crashes are down 37% for the same time.

But enforcement is only one part of the three-pronged approach to discourage people from driving drunk.

“In the past, we’ve given free Uber rides, and reduced tickets for ride sharing,” Howard said. “We’re happy to get a DUI off the road, but we’re not happy to give out DUIs.”

The task force is focused on raising awareness and educating people before a DUI happens. Members of the patrol attend the county fairs to raise awareness and get information to the community.

“We want people to come speak with us,” Scotch said. “We give out free breath samples. There’s so many avenues to get home safely without driving impaired. Uber, Lyft, taxis, friends …”

Scotch encourages friends to prevent their friends from driving drunk.

“There’s too many times I’ve seen someone driving drunk with someone in the passenger seat who was sober.”

Scotch is happy to see people having a good time, he just wants to see people drink responsibly.

“When you're sober, you’re reasonable,” Howard said. “So be a good friend and don’t let your friends drive drunk.”