Houston Rodeo/DWI Email
There's an email forward going around that several people have asked me about:
"Y'all need to be extra careful, as you should always be, this year around the rodeo time. The Houston Police along with just about every other law enforcement agency in the area are starting a new D.W.I. campaign and are kicking it off this year at the start of rodeo. The H.P.D. has purchased six "B.A.T." vehicles which stands for Breath Alcohol Testing. This are large mobile command centers about the size of mobile homes with Intoxilyzers, interview rooms, court certified field sobriety test practitioners, Assistant District Attorney's, as well as nurses qualified to draw blood. There will also be a judge available to sign search warrants for blood of those that refuse breath tests who are arrested for D.W.I. along with the other alcohol related offenses. Officers who stop persons who are suspected of being intoxicated are either transported to one of the BAT vehicle locations or the BAT vehicle will come to them. If you refuse breath even for DWI, they will get a search warrant and take your blood which is obviously worse than breath because it will show things other than alcohol and is often felt to be more accurate. As we know HPD on their own makes mistakes but I think after hearing of this new program feel they are getting it together."
Is it true? Most of it is.
Around the big drinking holidays like New Years and special events like the rodeo, HPD will have a "no refusal" policy. That means that if you are stopped for DWI and you refuse to take the field sobriety tests or the breathalyzer, you may be forced to take a blood test.
What happens--if you refuse the tests, the officer may call a prosecutor on call who wakes up a judge and gets a warrant signed to draw your blood. The officer will take you to the hospital and a nurse will do the blood test. It is not a rights violation--with a warrant signed by a judge, the State can forcibly draw your blood.
The part about the "Batvan," the tactical HPD mobilehome carrying a district judge seems to be made up. I spoke to a prosecutor and he had never heard of it either.
"Y'all need to be extra careful, as you should always be, this year around the rodeo time. The Houston Police along with just about every other law enforcement agency in the area are starting a new D.W.I. campaign and are kicking it off this year at the start of rodeo. The H.P.D. has purchased six "B.A.T." vehicles which stands for Breath Alcohol Testing. This are large mobile command centers about the size of mobile homes with Intoxilyzers, interview rooms, court certified field sobriety test practitioners, Assistant District Attorney's, as well as nurses qualified to draw blood. There will also be a judge available to sign search warrants for blood of those that refuse breath tests who are arrested for D.W.I. along with the other alcohol related offenses. Officers who stop persons who are suspected of being intoxicated are either transported to one of the BAT vehicle locations or the BAT vehicle will come to them. If you refuse breath even for DWI, they will get a search warrant and take your blood which is obviously worse than breath because it will show things other than alcohol and is often felt to be more accurate. As we know HPD on their own makes mistakes but I think after hearing of this new program feel they are getting it together."
Is it true? Most of it is.
Around the big drinking holidays like New Years and special events like the rodeo, HPD will have a "no refusal" policy. That means that if you are stopped for DWI and you refuse to take the field sobriety tests or the breathalyzer, you may be forced to take a blood test.
What happens--if you refuse the tests, the officer may call a prosecutor on call who wakes up a judge and gets a warrant signed to draw your blood. The officer will take you to the hospital and a nurse will do the blood test. It is not a rights violation--with a warrant signed by a judge, the State can forcibly draw your blood.
The part about the "Batvan," the tactical HPD mobilehome carrying a district judge seems to be made up. I spoke to a prosecutor and he had never heard of it either.
posted by Fred Dahr at 8:37 AM
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