Image by “Malingering” via Wikimedia Commons
It is no secret. DUI arrests have decreased across the country by at least 30% during the last two to three years. It is no coincidence that the U.S. Supreme Court decision of Birchfield v. North Dakota (2016) was decided about the same time as DUI arrests began their decrease. You can read more about how Birchfield affects DUI search warrants here. Police officers have confidentially complained that since the Birchfield decision, it takes too long to legally obtain blood from someone arrested for DUI. Accordingly, they have been calling rides for those suspected a DUI or ignoring the situation completely unless the suspect has been involved in a serious accident.
In order to reduce the amount of time involved in making a DUI arrest, some police departments are now implementing the application for a search warrant through technology. For instance, an officer may now contact a judge or magistrate by communicating electronically by video conference from their cell phone or properly equipped vehicle using an app such as Skype or FaceTime. The sworn application is signed by the officer electronically and, if approved, the search warrant is signed by the judge and transmitted wirelessly back to the officer for presentation to the appropriate party. This process will take considerably less time for the officer–particularly in rural areas. Check out this November 30, 2018 newscast from Phoenix, Arizona.
So, if you have been lax in restricting your driving after drinking a few alcoholic beverages or partaking of intoxicating drugs, you may want to reconsider your behavior. The police may again start enforcing DUI laws.
About the Author: Steven Oberman has been licensed in Tennessee since 1980, and successfully defended over 2,500 DUI defendants. Among the many honors bestowed upon him, Steve served as Dean of the National College for DUI Defense, Inc. (NCDD) and currently serves as chair of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers DUI Committee. Steve was the first lawyer in Tennessee to be Board Certified as a DUI Defense Specialist by the NCDD.
He is the author of DUI: The Crime & Consequences in Tennessee, updated annually since 1991 (Thomson-West), and co-author with Lawrence Taylor of the national treatise, Drunk Driving Defense, 8thedition (Wolters Kluwer/Aspen). Steve has served as an adjunct professor at the University of Tennessee Law School since 1993 and has received a number of prestigious awards for his faculty contributions. He is a popular international speaker, having spoken at legal seminars in over 30 states, the District of Columbia and three foreign countries.
If you would like to contact the author, please visit: http://www.tndui.com
