We Need Your Help With Funding

by Kelly Dagenhart

Remove Intoxicated Drivers (RID), the oldest antiDWI national organization in the U.S., was formed in 1978 in Schenectady, NY, by Doris Aiken. RID of Oak Ridge/Anderson County was formed in January of 1982 after Oak Ridger San San Peng and her two children were killed in October of 1981 by an intoxicated driver. Since that time the deaths due to DUI have steadily decreased and now are about 33% less than in 1982 even though the number of drivers has increased. We think that this would not have been possible without the outcry of RID and other antiDUI organizations to support legislative efforts, our Judicial System, and to support our law enforcement personnel.

We appreciate those of you who continue to support RID with your contributions. However, our cash flow balance has been negative for some time and now has reached a point that decisions have to be made. We need your continuing support if we are not to further reduce our newsletter distribution (we cut down from four issues a year to two) and other items. We have already had to terminate our DialARide Program, which had been ongoing since about 1986.

Please send as much as you can, as often as you can, and repeat periodically as many times as you can. The drunk driving menace is still with us and we need your help to reduce it in the coming years.

IWon Health Tip

Two 10minute counseling sessions can dramatically change people’s drinking habits and may be enough to get problem drinking under control. That’s what the University of Wisconsin Medical School found in a study of 774 problem drinkers. All the drinkers got a health booklet, but half also had two short sessions with their doctors. A year later, on average, those in the counseling group had cut their weekly alcohol consumption from 19 to 11 drinks, and had reduced their binge drinking episodes by almost half, significantly more than those who only got the booklet (although they also improved somewhat). Excess drinking ups the risk of heart disease, stroke, liver problems, cancer and other conditions.

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, women who have eight or more drinks per week, or four or more at a time, are problem drinkers. For men, it’s 15 drinks or more a week, or five or more at a time.

Letter from the Oak Ridge Chief of Police

Dear Dr. Dagenhart:

Following our conversation in February, I conducted a review of all DUI arrests from October 1, 2001 through February 14, 2002. During this period of time, forty individuals were charged with DUI by Oak Ridge officers. Three of the forty were charged with being a multiple DUI offender.

A driving history was then requested for each of the forty arrests and examined individually. According to the driving histories, four others were eligible to have been charged with multiple DUI offenses and were not. Two of the four have since been properly charged.

Each of the four case files was then examined carefully, and the T.C.I.C. computer was examined for possible downtime at the time of these arrests. This revealed that of the four, three driving histories could not be run and reviewed due to the State computer being down during and after those arrests for extended periods of time. This resulted in three 1st offense charges.

In conclusion, of the forty arrests during the given period of time, thirtyeight or 95% were properly charged. A supervisory review process has been instituted for arrests made when the computer is down and past history is not available. It is my goal that all persons arrested for DUI be properly charged.

Thank you for suggesting a review of our DUI arrests. The review identified an area that needed attention. It is a pleasure to work with you and RID to help eliminate drunk drivers on our roads.

Letter from the Anderson County Sheriff

I have conducted a review of the DUI arrests as you requested. There were 40 individuals charged with DUI by Anderson County Deputies from October 11, 2002, through January 30, 2003. Of those 40, there were 12 charged as a multiple offender.

The driving histories of the 40 offenders were checked, and only one person was charged as a 1st offense that should have been charged as a 2nd offense. This was due to the T.C.I.C. files being down at the time of the arrest; apparently there was no followup.

The Anderson County Deputies take great care to ensure that all offenders are properly charged, and for one to be overlooked is rare.

The statistics you asked for regarding the total DUI arrests for 2001 and 2002 and the officer with the most arrests are attached. We have begun preparing a quarterly report which includes DUI statistics. We will email this report to you after it is presented to Anderson County Commission each quarter.

Please contact me if you have any questions or need additional information.

Offense No.	No. Charged	Notes, Comments
1st Offense	28	1 should be 2nd offense
2nd Offense	8	1 originally 1st offense, later amended in court
3rd Offense	2
4th Offense	2
2001 Statistics: Total DUI Arrests: 69 Officer w/Most DUI Arrests: Jodi Flynn, Total Arrests: 15
2002 Statistics: Total DUI Arrests: 79 Officer w/Most DUI Arrests: Jodi Flynn, Total Arrests: 30

Commemoration of the Normandy Landing

One of our very own RID board members was a guest of honor recently at Anderson County High School. J.C. Scarbrough along with 21 others were presented the Medal of the Jubilee of Liberty to pay tribute to the men and women who fought in Normandy to restore freedom to Europe and the World.

Congressman Zach Wamp presented the medals and gave an inspiring speech to those in attendance, including some Anderson County High students. Congressman Wamp reminded the students the heroes live right here in our own community.