Fort Worth Police DWI No Refusal Policy- There Will Be Blood

The Mornings News has a story on a Fort Worth Policy “no refusal” policy for New Years Eve. Drivers suspected of DWI will be forced to give a blood sample. A typical law enforcement holiday Constitutional desecration of the 4th, 5th, and 6th Amendment goes like this.

A suspect will be pulled over for a traffic violation. The officer will then magically find all of these signs of intoxication- bloodshot/glassy eyes, the odor of an alcoholic beverage, and slurred speech (trust me, they always find all three). The officer will fax this information to a friendly magistrate. This magistrate is assigned to sign blood draw warrants upon request. Suspects will then be forced to give a sample of blood and have no recourse if they are found to innocent later.

“We’re going to get our evidence one way or another,” Fort Worth Police Chief
Ralph Mendoza said.

I bet you will Mr. Mendoza. What your fascist collection of blood samples won’t do is save lives. More DWI enforcement is not working. The .08 BAC standard that MADD pushed through Congress has resulted in more arrests and more fatalities. Law enforcement is wasting time arresting drivers who pose no threat to public safety while dangerous drunks go free.

Don’t take my word for it. Here is another quote from Chief Mendoza. Notice the amazing lack of perspective and insight.

DWI arrests have increased 40 percent over the last year, and fatal auto
accidents in Fort Worth also continue to rise, Officer Mendoza said.

Hmmm… more arrests and more fatalities. What’s a police chief to do? Arrest more and get blood!

In 2006, 77 people lost their lives in car crashes, up from 56 in 2003, according to Fort Worth police. The BAC has reached laffer curve effect with regard to fatalities. The lower the BAC, the more wasted resources, the more dangerous drunks get away.

Officer Mendoza will never care that his policy is an affront to Liberty. I only hope that someday Officer Mendoza realizes that his policy is letting deadly drivers go free.

Labels: DWI, MADD

<img src="http://www.blogger.c says:

December 29, 2007 at 6:38 am

What a joke. Of course, why should the city of Fort Worth let some silly little things like common sense and the Constitution get in the way of raising revenue of so-called drunk drivers?

<img src="http://www.blogge says:

December 29, 2007 at 12:54 pm

So much for Inalienable Rights.At The Water Cooler

December 29, 2007 at 2:28 pm

You should send your blog to the Forth Worth Star and the Morning News and ask for comments. Interesting DUI arrests are up and so are accidents with dui involved. Do more arrests mean more accidents?Dennis

December 30, 2007 at 1:26 pm

DUI arrests and vehicle accidents have increased because the presumption of intoxication (blood alcohol level) has been lowered.The higher the blood alcohol level the slower the DUI driver tends to drive. He also tends to forget to signal for turns, dim his headlights for oncoming traffic, stops well short of stop signs and red lights, has trouble avoiding traffic lane dividers (road bumps), weaves, but for the most part manages to stay within a single lane, and exhibits other telltale signs.Of course, finding the really intoxicated DUI and developing adequate probable cause for a traffic stop is considerably more difficult than sitting on the side of the road and running a radar unit or answering a call to investigate an accident.An “alcohol buzz” of less than 0.1% generally won’t result in the so-called ?impaired? driver exhibiting any of the above symptoms. However, the “buzzed” driver (less than 0.1%) may tend to exceed the posted speed, especially if he is prone to speeding when sober. The police in the area where I live have historically managed to snag most of their DUIs on radar or charge the driver after he has been involved in an accident. Once an officer determines that one of the drivers involved in an accident was drinking prior to the accident, that driver is charged with DUI and the accident is on record as a DUI involved accident even if consumption of alcohol was not a contributing factor. If a driver with a measurable blood alcohol level is stopped at a stop sign with his foot on the brake and is rear-ended by a non drinking driver, the drinking driver will invariably be charged with DUI and alcohol will be shown as a contributing factor.I can recall an incident where one of our local neer-do-wells crashed his car into a pigpen, flipped the vehicle and ended up under the car. Before he could be removed from the pigpen he died from what is now referred to as positional asphyxia. I stood in the prep room at the local funeral home and listened to the Justice of the Peace, the Highway Patrol Trooper, and the mortician argue for 15 to thirty minutes as to who could legally authorize the drawing of blood from the corpse and who would draw the said blood sample. As if it would make a difference to the dead man? Statistics. That’s all the citizens of Texas represent to the Department of ?Public Safety?.

Kyle says:

June 28, 2008 at 7:01 pm

Ever heard of spell check?

Spelling mistakes distract greatly from your otherwise valid message.