ANDERSON — Despite tougher laws, drunken drivers still are responsible for accidents that claim hundreds of lives throughout South Carolina each year. That’s why police officers and deputies from six Upstate law enforcement agencies are honing their DUI-enforcement skills at a training program in Anderson this week.
“This training is set up to show how to detect DUI suspects on the road,” said Anderson police officer Eddie McCall, one of the organizers of the four-day course.
The most recent statistics show that 463 alcohol-related fatalities occurred on South Carolina roads in 2008. McCall said South Carolina is routinely one of the leading states for alcohol-related accidents. He also said Anderson County is typically among the worst counties in the state in terms of DUI carnage.
“We just like to drink around here,” McCall said.
A series of stricter DUI laws took effect last year in South Carolina, where motorists are considered to be legally intoxicated if their blood-alcohol level is .08 or higher.
The laws include more severe penalties for motorists with even higher blood-alcohol levels. For a first DUI offense, a driver will face a minimum $400 fine and a jail sentence of 48 hours to 30 days, or 48 hours of community service. But if the driver’s blood-alcohol level is between .10 and .16, the fine climbs to $500 with a jail sentence of 72 hours to 30 days, or 72 hours of community service. If a motorist’s blood-alcohol level is .16 or higher, the penalty for a first offense includes a $1,000 fine and a jail sentence of 30 to 90 days, or 30 days of community service.
Drivers found guilty of DUI for a fourth time will be sentenced to prison for anywhere from one to seven years, depending on their blood-alcohol level.
South Carolina also was one of the first states to require the videotaping of DUI arrests.
Proponents say these new laws and stepped-up enforcement efforts have led to more DUI arrests and fewer alcohol-related fatalities.
The Anderson Police Department has spent $170,000 from a federal grant during the past two years to create a two-officer DUI unit. Since the unit was formed, the officers have made 197 DUI arrests, a department spokesman, Tony Tilley, said Wednesday.
But to obtain a DUI conviction, law enforcement officers must carefully follow specific procedures, said Marty Perkins, one of the instructors who spoke at the training course Wednesday.
“Don’t be in a hurry,” said Perkins, a former police officer from Fishers, Ind., who now frequently testifies as a defense expert witness in DUI trials. “Follow the guidelines.”
A total of 16 officers and deputies from the Anderson Police Department, Anderson County Sheriff’s Office, Laurens Police Department, Oconee County Sheriff’s Office, Pickens County Sheriff’s Office and Simpsonville Police Department are attending this week’s course. In addition to hearing from experts, they have spent time practicing standard field sobriety tests on volunteers.
