NCJ Number
101230
Journal
Canadian Journal of Criminology Volume: 28 Issue: 2 Dated: (April 1986) Pages: 147-156
Date Published
1986
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This 1982 survey of Ontario (Canada) police officers and administrators ascertained procedures for detecting, arresting, and processing drunk drivers and determined respondents' perceptions of enforcement problems and ways to improve enforcement.
Abstract
A questionnaire sent to 186 police administrators had a 75.8-percent return rate. The officers' questionnaire was sent to 1,229 officers, with a response rate of 65.4 percent. The questionnaires covered demographic and enforcement statistics, initial contact, arrest and processing, disposition, processing time and paperwork, as well as perceptions and recommendations. The detection of drunk driving was low compared to estimated occurrences due to understaffing, time-consuming arrests, officer and administrator attitudes, the court system, and amount of paperwork. Another problem was inconsistent fingerprinting and photographing of arrestees, which hampered the proving of previous convictions. Both the police and the public perceived drunk driving as a minor offense. Survey recommendations were to increase and standardize police training for the processing of drunk drivers, streamline the arrest process, standardize and reduce paperwork, increase the number of roadside screening devices, assess the personnel allocation for drunk-driving enforcement, review the adjudication process, and establish top priority for drunk-driving enforcement. 17 references and data.