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SLOPD catches one offender in DUI warrant sweep

June 12, 2017

San Luis Obispo police conducted a DUI warrant sweep on Saturday, which they say was a show of manpower that SLOPD can use to find people who drive under the influence and then skip court.

Officers served warrants for suspects who either failed to show up to court or violated probation in outstanding DUI cases. But, police only made one arrest.

Still, police say DUI warrant sweeps, as well as “high visibility” DUI enforcement, have a deterrent effect on those who violate the rules of the road and abuse alcohol and drugs.

“The best bet for anyone with a missed DUI court date is to go to court on their own now,” Sergeant John Villanti said. “If you don’t, that warrant isn’t going away. We’re going to come find you and take you to jail.”

Suspects who are caught with outstanding DUI warrants often face additional jail time for failing to appear in court or for violating probation. They also face personal embarrassment as friends, family and co-workers see them walking away in handcuffs, a SLOPD press release states.

SLOPD receives funding for DUI warrant operations from The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration via grants administered by the California Office of Traffic Safety.


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All the while chief wiggum telling them “thats good work boys”.


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“They also face personal embarrassment as friends, family and co-workers see them walking away in handcuffs, a SLOPD press release states.” The modern version of putting people in stocks on the public square?


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One arrest? I think if I were the administrator of the grant awarded by the California Office of Traffic Safety I’d be seriously reviewing the grant contract and evaluate the performance requirements.


The OTS website doesn’t reveal the grant levels awarded for the Police Traffic Services program, but I suspect the number would be alarming in comparison to the results reported.


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If they really cared they would just set up near the wine tasting rooms. I can’t even imagine how many drunk drivers are put on the road on any given weekend with hundreds of tasting rooms pouring away. Nothing against the wine industry but they are providing a very good product for our local law enforcement agencies.

Too much money in tourism so they will only still go after the poor in the local beer bars and dives.


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Oh yeah! Wine country! There’s a dozen deaths every weekend in West Paso due to drunk driving. Every time I go wine tasting there’s several huge wrecks, bodies lying in the road, twisted metal, fires, ambulances……it’s hard to relax and enjoy the wine with all the carnage!


Well, perhaps I’m slightly misoverexagerating the scourge of drunk driving in wine country…..instead of a dozen deaths every weekend, there’s maybe zero. Ditto wrecks. I’ve never seen a wreck in wine country……but the fact that bodily fluids can be checked and are not being checked really pisses me off.


There’s a ton of revenue safely driving around in wine country! Pull ’em over, make ’em blow, tow ’em away and make ’em pay! This will reduce the carnage and inconvenience caused by all the drunk wine tasters crashing into eachother and mowing down children.


It will also give the state and county much needed revenue to meet its pension obligations.


We all need to be policed more. Much more.


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Maybe I should clarify this by meaning under the influence and not drunk, even though most people refer to it as drunk driving.


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Talk about a waste of tax payer funding. Can we stop policing by “show”.


As much as the police want to claim that these measures are a deterrent. They are not. There are not any stats to offer to support this claim.


If you want to cut down on drunk driving require a breathalyzer test for all retail alcohol sales.


“Blow to Buy”. ……..force alcohol drinkers to plan ahead…you can’t restock your supply if already drinking.


It would force a behavioral change for all of us who buy alcohol but would it have real impact on who is driving on our streets, and when.


As someone who has worked in liquor stores it is that second beer run that usually gets you in trouble. You’d been better off staying put–where ever you were.


Plan ahead–you can reduce the dead.


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Perhaps you should do a bit of research before spouting your self-informed wisdom. While there is no direct research regarding warrant sweeps, there is more than enough regarding high visibility DUI enforcement, especially for checkpoints. You can find a good source for many of them at http://www.thecommunityguide.org/mvoi/mvoi-AJPM-evrev-alchl-imprd-drvng.pdf . Plus, how many DUI crashes are caused by the “second beer run” people you have experience with? What about the bar goers? What about those who bought plenty to begin with and don’t need another run? What about the prescription drug and cannabis users who make up more than a third of DUI fatal crashes?


You did get one thing right – plan ahead. If everyone planned ahead and knew how they were going to get home without driving under the influence of anything, we would cut our fatal crashes nearly in half.


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Hey Dave how does one gain wisdom without informing one’s self?


Without knowing me you make quite a few assumptions about me and what information or knowledge I may possess. So your response is a tad over the top. And uninformed.


Can’t solve all the worlds problems in one fell swoop. My suggestion would certainly help quite a lot.


You missed the point…..they would not go on a second beer run as they could not ” blow clean” when they go there. So why drive if you can’t buy?


Sorry but any stats you provide on a program that is infrequent, arbitrary where placed, and varied in execution from city to city would be bad data. There is no way you can honestly claim “deterent”


Just because you can point to a study doesn’t mean it is valid. For the reasons outlined above; your proof is suspect.


The MAAD people need to pursue effective policies. This is not one of them.


My suggestion would change behaviour 24\7. DUI sweeps work for those 3 hours and no more, while infringing on the rights of drivers to travel freely..


What a great program…just don’t question its efficiency or appropriateness. Or people become unglued.


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“”San Luis Obispo police conducted a DUI warrant sweep on Saturday, which they say was a show of manpower that SLOPD can use to find people who drive under the influence and then skip court.””


Manpower! I wonder if they got deputy Jim Fellows, who had a blood alcohol content of .15 and was practicing driving drunk at 102 mph down LOVR?


Or, maybe they got Dr. Gary Walter, SLO county medical examiner who had blood alcohol of .19 and who while speeding to perform an autopsy managed to miss almost every car until finally hitting just one.


No? They aren’t “high visibility” DUI people I guess.


Oh well. At least they got “manpower.”


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Those DUI’s along with SLO judges, other LEO’s, remember the officer asleep in his taxpayer car on a county road, was he arrested, or even given a field sobriety test, No, he was given a ride home from a CHP commander I recall. Special people get special treatment.


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Don’t forget Fellows had a loaded gun!!


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Don’t forget the many stories we know about are only because we found out about them, we all know there are many occasions that a simple badge wave, mention of a name, special handshake or such that the “special people” just get a pass when stopped for DUI or other reasons.


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Just remember to use the correct gender identity greeting when you first make contact with your suspect officers; we wouldn’t want you to get in trouble with Chief “Comfortable Shoes.”


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Ha ha ha Stunned…maybe they only had one warrant to serve


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So you’ve got a list of known addresses, the dudes friends, what he’s driving and where he works and you find ONE?


I’ve had better results delivering Christmas cards! lol


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