Report: Majority of arrests involve alcohol| |
When the Wyoming Sheriffs and Chiefs Association surveyed jails in 2005, the results were astonishing : alcohol played a role in about 55 percent of arrests for all crimes, and people brought in for driving under the influence were more intoxicated than suspected.
But, reporting from detention centers was spotty enough to prompt a new round of data collection, with researchers hoping for a more solid picture of alcohol’s role.
The new findings presented to the Governor’s Substance Abuse and Violent Crime Advisory Board, showed that alcohol is a factor in 62 percent of all arrests. And, when alcohol is involved, people arrested for crimes ranging from domestic violence and underage drinking to assaults and warrants were far worse than legally intoxicated, with an average blood alcohol content of 0.159, nearly twice the legal limit of .08.
The new data was collected in every county during a six-month period in 2006 through survey forms completed by law enforcement officers in detention centers, said Ernie Johnson, a management consultant to the sheriffs and chiefs association and the study organizer.
“It really opened our eyes,” Johnson said, adding that the data clearly indicates alcohol is Wyoming’s top substance abuse issue.
Among the findings:
Several counties shattered the statewide average of 62 percent of arrests involving alcohol. In Washakie County, 99 percent of arrests involved alcohol, compared with 88 percent in Hot Springs County and 87 percent in Fremont County.
Of the 9,508 total arrests analyzed, almost 23 percent were for DUI.
Converse County recorded almost double the statewide percentage of domestic violence arrests. Alcohol was involved in 74 percent of those arrests.
Statewide, about 9.5 percent of arrests were for public intoxication, although 29 percent of arrests in Teton County were made on that charge.
Fremont County’s percentage of DUI arrests was nearly double that of the statewide average.
Among DUI arrests, the most intoxicated subjects were recorded in Weston County, with an average BAC of .205. Lincoln County revealed the lowest average BAC, at .13, for DUI arrests.
Statewide, underage drinkers accounted for 11 percent of all DUI arrests. Those underage drivers had an average BAC of .134. The average BAC of underage drinkers arrested for minor in possession was .125.
Of 359 traffic crashes resulting in an arrest, alcohol factored into 333. The average BAC of someone arrested in conjunction with a traffic crash was .165.
“That is a tremendous drain on taxpayer and law enforcement resources,” Johnson noted.
Also of note is additional data Johnson collected in Natrona County through the holiday season. He found that law enforcement made nearly as many DUI arrests in the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas as during the entire length of the six-month study.
Following Johnson’s presentation, the advisory board discussed the correlation between potential strategies addressing alcohol abuse and the results of a recent public opinion survey, said Bob Lampert, board chairman and Wyoming Department of Corrections director.
“What struck me was that Wyoming still has a ways to go in terms of looking for statutory fixes to alcohol use,” Lampert said. “What we’re finding is that in addition to access of minors to alcohol, Wyoming has not kept pace with other states in terms of alcohol-related statutes.”
He cited as an example the previous failures of legislation banning all open containers in moving vehicles. “This session it appears that the open container bill may actually survive both houses,” Lampert added. “It’s just one of the gaps that has been identified. Other ways to limit access are less popular.”
He made a formal request that the joint interim Labor, Health and Social Services Committee consider alcohol-related statutes in Wyoming, using the National Academies of Sciences report as a blueprint to reduce youth access to alcohol and “what appears to be overuse of alcohol by our adult population as well.”
The national report focuses on youth alcohol abuse and recommends strategies to change the culture or environment which supports underage consumption, including access and adult attitudes. The Wyoming First Lady’s Initiative to Reduce Childhood Drinking has developed a state plan based on the national report, which Lampert said could also serve as a guide to the interim committee.
“Our children have behaviors that are sometimes learned by the adult models they see,” Lampert explained. “In Wyoming, there has been in the past a frontier-type of approach to alcohol consumption. As we’re learning more about controlling youth access to alcohol, we’re learning that usually alcohol is obtained from an adult, whether directly or indirectly. We need to at least consider how adults can better set a model for their kids if we’re going to limit minors’ use of alcohol.”
