Chicago DUI lawyer asks are there still DUI's when there are not arrests

Earlier I posted that Chicago DUI arrests were down. It appears that is also the case in some neighboring counties as well.

May 18, Aurora, Il

In 2008, police in Aurora, Kane County's most populous city, made almost 200 more drunken driving arrests than the previous year.

However, in unincorporated Kane County, DUI stops were down by almost half.

Why the difference? Time and people.

In an era that has DUI laws getting tougher, police becoming more vigilant and public-awareness campaigns ramping up the message that drunken drivers are losers, the disparity between the number of arrests by Aurora police and the Kane County sheriff's office is more about staffing than the importance of keeping roads safe.

To account for the drop in DUI arrests for his department, Sheriff Pat Perez points to deputies spending more time than ever on foreclosures and evictions, as well as his two top DUI deputies moving off the midnight shift.

"It's not just DUIs, but all our tickets issued," he said.

The sheriff's office went from 129 DUI arrests in 2007 to 75 last year. Through April, deputies recorded 27 DUI arrests, which is almost half the amount for the same time period in 2008. Targeted patrols for drunken drivers aren't possible because there are fewer officers available, Perez added.

"You still have to have the manpower to operate it correctly," he said.

St. Charles also saw a decrease in DUI stops, despite running the same number of extra patrols, police spokesman Paul McCurtain said.

"It seemed like they were harder to come by," he added.

Aurora police reported 420 DUI arrests in 2008, up from 223 in the prior year. That 88 percent jump was attributed to an overall department goal of reducing accidents, not grant-funded special details.

As a benefit of a reduced crime rate citywide, the department has been able to use special units to focus on DUI.

"Our hope is to increase DUI arrests by 5 percent in 2009," Ziman said.

I wonder why the Aurora police would expect an increase in DUI arrests when citywide, crime is down. I also wonder why the set a goal to increase DUI arrests by 5%.