Technology, pettiness and nudity

Good-old know-how and creative policing are effective tools in curbing DUIS

Daryl (not his real name), a resourceful Island prison guard, has many thoughtful insights on criminal acts, including drunk driving.

Daryl asserts that the most difficult arrivals at Sleepy Hollow are, “... the drunk driving guys wearing ties, who, upon arrival at the jail, start shouting, ‘Do you know who I am?’ and ‘I shouldn’t be here!’” (Repeat 10 times or so, volume ascending.)

This bit of dialogue is not confined to the Island; the identical words are trotted out across the nation, or so an old friend, an Ontario Provincial Police superviser, confirmed last week.

OPP Sergeant Bo Jordan (also not his real name) observed that the “Do you know who I am?” crowd generally share three attributes: they are wealthy, middle-aged and male.

Oh yeah, and arrogant.

PERSONAL VENDETTAS

The hope can be found in the fact that Sergeant Bo, Prison Guard Daryl and the Charlottetown Police Services have found new and creatives ways to challenge this arrogance, and the crime itself.

Some of this hope — and problem solving — is due to new technology, combined with time-honoured Island scoresettling pettiness.

In Charlottetown, the public are encouraged, as they always have been, to report suspected drunk drivers. And now that everyone has cellphones, the calls pour in to Charlottetown Police Services in greater numbers — with more than a few of the callers being motivated by, “I always hated that Betty,” etc.

The Charlottetown police don’t object to the volume of calls, even if some are driven by these personal vendettas, as the police efficiently manage them, without straining resources.

Charlottetown’s E-watch cameras can track cars quickly, so almost all calls result in a vehicle cited being pulled over. The fact that the percentage of charges laid, out of the total pulled over, is lower than in the past is a good thing; a wider net has been cast to catch the most (drunk-as-a) fish.

A BRIGHT IDEA

Good-old know-how and creative policing are also emerging as effective tools in curbing DUIS. Sgt. Bo has, for example, put in place personal innovations to gets drunks off the road.

One method is by making anonymous calls to all the bars in the hour preceding closing, advising the bartender that there is a spot check just up the road. In most cases this isn’t true, but the parking lots no longer empty at closing time with impaired drivers at the wheel, and the taxis have a pretty good night.

Sgt. Bo’s other innovation involves visiting the parking lots of all the arenas when beer hockey leagues, who have that name for a reason, are underway. He cleans the winter grime off one headlight of all the cars in parking lots of the arenas while the games are underway. (Resulting in one brighter headlight.)

Then he instructs his officers to keep a lookout for one-eyed cars on the road at 2 a.m. or so. These beer-leaguers had likely headed out for a few more hours of drinking after the game, so were worth pulling over for a spot check. The number of drunk driving recreational hockey players in one part of Ontario is now diminished, thanks to Sgt. Bo.

STRIP SEARCH

Taken together, Sgt. Bo, Prison Guard Daryl and Charlotetown Police Services reveal a pattern that shouldn’t be too surprising: Those entrusted are engaged in the issue, and are finding practical and clever ways to get at the problem — including in Prison Guard Daryl’s case, who is addressing the problem of the “Do you know who I am?” arrogance.

After being yelled at for a bit, Daryl says one thing to the entitled Island drunk driver: “Take your clothes off.”

It is what happens when you go to jail, and it is amazing how nudity saps most people of their combativeness.

Perhaps we could step things up a bit and do that by the side of the road; strip drunk drivers.

It would certainly have an effect — and further satisfy those who enjoy sticking it to their neighbour.