On the Lookout for DUI

BENNINGTON - Friday night was a busy one for the Bennington Police Department, with double the number of officers on patrol. Officers bustled around the station, grabbing equipment for checkpoints. Evidence from the night's earlier catch was being logged. Eight officers were out on patrol, up from around three on a normal night. All this is part of an effort to curb drunken driving over the holiday season, an effort made possible by a $7,500 grant from the Vermont Governor's Highway Safety Program. Riding on patrol "This is the first year the Bennington Police Department has received the grant, which is for saturation patrols and checkpoints from Dec. 22 through Jan. 1," said Lt. Paul Doucette. "This has allowed us to put extra officers on, providing for about 220 hours of overtime. We're looking for people driving impaired, but also things like seat-belts and child seats." Officers John Behan and David Faden were on such a patrol Friday night and took along a Banner reporter to observe the process. Looking for drivers under the influence is by no means easy, the officers said. "Sometimes it's subtle," said Faden.

"Sometimes people cross over the yellow line several times — we look for that. We're just patrolling and looking for aggressive driving." Other things that the officers look for are bloodshot eyes, alcohol containers in the car, the smell of liquor and slurred speech. People often offer odd excuses for their erratic driving, according to the officers. "The best one I ever got was a guy who said he was on the way to a store to get his mom some suppositories," said Behan. It doesn't take too long to find a catch this night: A traffic stop along Route 7 for having headlights off at night leads to three minors in possession of a 30-pack of Bud Light. "We stopped a guy for not having his headlights on," said Faden. "The people in the passenger seats were moving around as if they were hiding something — they were rifling around." According to the officers, the minors showed another tell-tale sign that they were hiding something: They didn't pull over immediately, but rather drove until the officers turned on the siren. The minors are issued tickets, but the police work does not end there. The store that sold these kids the beer may be in trouble next. "When you get a 16-year-old that's been served alcohol, it's a very serious problem," Faden said. "I think this is just as productive as stopping a drunk driver. We prevented these kids from getting drunk later and possibly hurting themselves." According to Doucette, this is not an unusual situation. "We often look beyond what we originally pulled them over for," said Doucette. "Tonight, I stopped a guy for speeding and he denied he had any alcohol, but I could smell it." Behan, though, said the department wanted a lower amount of arrests this year. "We're hoping we made an impact with the 'You Drink, You Drive, You Lose' campaign," Behan said. Doucette agreed with this assessment. "I can guarantee a number of people we stop tonight will be people that are designated drivers," Doucette said. "That's really how we measure our success — like the whole pint glass thing, it's about education."