Barsanti: Drunken driving stings making local impact
By KATE THAYER
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kthayer@kcchronicle.com
ST. CHARLES – The largest so-called "no-refusal" drunken driving sting to date resulted in a lower percentage of offenders refusing to submit to testing, State's Attorney John Barsanti said Tuesday.
Barsanti said he's not sure if he can say his initiative is reducing drunken driving, but it seems to be making an impact.
During the no-refusal weekends, which began last year, police obtain warrants for offenders that refuse to submit to a breath test. The idea is for the warrant for a blood test to compel an offender to cease their refusal. According to prosecutors, about 40 percent of DUI offenders in Illinois refuse a breath test. The refusals are seen as a tactic to beat the DUI charge in court.
Thirteen police agencies took part in last weekend's sting – the fourth – including each of the Tri-City departments, Kane County Sheriff's police, Elburn and Sugar Grove.
The Halloween weekend sting – which began late Friday into Saturday morning and went again from late Saturday to early Sunday – had the most participating police departments in all the no-refusal stings.
Fourteen people were arrested for DUI during the sting. Only two refused to submit to testing, prosecutors said.
Assistant State's Attorney Steve Sims, who was present during the operation, said it's the lowest percentage of refusals in all the stings.
Of those two refusers, one submitted to testing before a warrant was obtained, while the other did so after a warrant was issued, prosecutors said.
"What we've got here is a declining number of refusers," Barsanti said. "I can't completely say it's from our no refusals because I can't prove it."
But, Barsanti said, he thinks the stings are playing a part in reducing drunk driving. Especially because of advance publicity and that the stings bring about extra police presence, he said.
"There's something working here," he said.
Barsanti hopes to make the stings more of a common procedure among Kane County police. Last weekend's sting, which was geographically the largest, proved that there could be a central location where officers could bring in refusers. In last weekend's operation, the Elgin and St. Charles police departments served as central locations.
"I'd like to see that this commonly happens where a refusal is no longer a strategy for a drunk driver," he said.
The operations are funded by a grant from the Kane County DUI Task Force.
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