In 2017, Orange County public safety officers made a total of 5,403 DUI arrests. Since the passing of Prop 64, which decriminalized marijuana, DUI drug arrests have increased 40 percent in California. DUI drug arrests now exceed those for DUI alcohol in the United States.
Orange County Sheriff’s Deputy Jeremy Johnson is taking these stats seriously. Last year he won the Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) award for his 57 DUI arrests and those were all made in just one city, San Clemente!
Of Deputy Johnson’s 57 arrests, approximately 70 percent were DUI alcohol and 30 percent were a combination of drugs and alcohol.
In order to catch these drugged drivers you have to have the skills. And Deputy Johnson definitely does, he is a Drug Recognition Expert. DREs complete hours of training and have an advanced certification in how to recognize symptoms of seven categories of drugs. DRE’s use 12 tests from checking the subject’s pulse rate, blood pressure, eyes, and muscle tone, to having the subject perform divided attention tests including walking a straight line, estimating 30 seconds while maintaining their balance and keeping their eyes closed, and balancing on one leg to determine what, if anything, is affecting the driver.
“It’s a challenge figuring out the whole story” said Deputy Johnson. “Sometimes the distraction is their phone, sometimes they are tired, and other times there is a mixture of drugs and alcohol in their system.”
The biggest reason that drove Deputy Johnson to be a traffic car in a busy city like San Clemente, “my mom was hit by a drunk driver,” he said. “I‘ll never forget receiving that call. Luckily, she was not seriously injured and I got to speak to her again. That could have not been the case. I’m out here making sure that someone else’s family member makes it home safe, too.”
With St. Patrick’s Day right around the corner Deputy Johnson is urging everyone in Orange County to think ahead. “There are too many options now, to not drive drunk,” he said.
This traditionally boozy holiday is a very dangerous one. Between 2013 and 2017, there were 234 people killed due to drunk-driving crashes during the St. Patrick’s holiday period. Three-quarters of fatal drunk driving crashes involve a driver who is two times the legal drinking limit. Don’t drink and drive this holiday weekend! Drive sober or get pulled over.
