BPD Glasses a Worldwide Phenomenon

BENNINGTON — Using pints for publicity was the Bennington Police Department's way of promoting DUI awareness during the holiday season. They got more than they bargained for. Lt. Paul Doucette said the department received countless calls from news entities like "Good Morning America," Fox News and The New York Times over the past few weeks, and they all wanted to know about the glass program. Besides news agencies, many national and international agencies have been calling for information. All the inquiries have kept the station bustling at an especially busy time of year. "It was a little bit overwhelming at first," Doucette said. "They were following up on the pint glasses, to see how the program was working. They thought the concept was interesting and they wanted to know where the idea came from." For Doucette, the best part was letting people know about the program, and hopefully getting more police stations proactive about DUI awareness. He also enjoyed doing a live satellite interview with Fox. "It was definitely an experience," Doucette said. "The best part is that it was promoting safe driving. It was about the concept, and reminding people not to drink and drive, and I think it worked out well." Along with all the media groups inquiring about the program, Doucette has been fielding calls from organizations across the globe that want to start their own DUI awareness program. Calls came from as far away as Australia, Ireland and England.
	BPD pint glasses donated by Catamount Glass
Doucette said the BPD has been receiving calls from local businesses that want to help support the program and keep it going on a year-round basis. To accommodate them, the department is working on getting more glasses into restaurants and bars, and developing a new design that will feature sponsor names. "A lot of the agencies thought it was a great idea," Doucette said. "I have a whole list of people I need to call back, and I'm going to try and get back to all of them." Some of the organizations that called suggested the department add a "don't drink and drive" message on the glass. Doucette hopes the next generation of glasses will include a logo that says "You Drink, You Drive, You Lose." The pint-glass program started out as a collaboration between the BPD, Catamount Glass and Carmody's restaurant. Doucette said the 160 pint glasses were donated by Catamount and distributed to local bars and restaurants. The glasses came with four different pictures on them — the BPD patch, the BPD special response team patch, the BPD K-9 logo and the BPD 150th anniversary badge logo. The logos were there to help remind people that police are on the streets in full force during the holiday season. Doucette said this holiday season was a success when it comes to DUIs. The BPD arrested six people for DUI, and wrote more than 300 tickets, during the 11-day enforcement period between Christmas and New Year's. While these numbers are a slight improvement over last year, Doucette said he was most happy to see designated drivers. He said he came across 13 of them during the enforcement period. "The biggest thing about the pint glasses was awareness," Doucette said. "This New Year's Eve was the quietest I can remember, and we didn't have a single DUI arrest or a single bar fight (that evening). People got the message." While organizations may continue to call the BPD for advice about the pint-glass program, Doucette said the department is most focused on driver safety. "We're not in the glass business," Doucette said. "We're trying to make the highways safe."