Criminal History - Hawaii DUI Arrestee Data

Transcription

1 Driving Under the Influence in the City & County of Honolulu A Profile of Arrestees, Case Outcomes, Collisions, Injuries, and Stakeholder Recommendations Michael Hallstone, Ph.D., Principal Investigator Department of Justice Administration University of Hawaii West Oahu and Paul Perrone, Chief of Research and Statistics Crime Prevention & Justice Assistance Division Department of the Attorney General Study Goals To provide a more comprehensive statistical description of DUI in C&C Honolulu To document the concerns and policy recommendations of stakeholders associated with DUI issues in Hawaii Data Sources 503 DUI arrest reports randomly selected from calendar year 001 (approx. ¼ of all arrests) Used 001 as wanted a majority of cases to go through courts Criminal history data for each DUI arrestee from Criminal Justice Information System (CJIS) Stakeholder meeting, comments, and recommendations No crime data are perfect but these are unique to Hawaii and are case-level and rare for DUI 1

2 Typical DUI Arrestee Please see report for complete demographics A male in his twenties to early thirties A county resident Only somewhat more likely to have a lower or middle income-level occupation than a higher paid profession A Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) in the.19 to.141 range at the time of his arrest (the legal limit in Hawaii is.08) And is a first-time DUI arrestee without an extensive criminal history. Average BAC=.135 Average BAC Varies tremendously from.000 to.33 Especially top 5% - ranges from.174 to.33 BAC is affected by complexities of real world policing Must transport to a station with legally admissible testing device Making PAS device legally admissible evidence could possibly increase number of DUI (see recommendations) Average BAC s in Quartiles 1 st Quartile 0-5% (BAC= ) Number 116 Percent of All Arrestees 4.4 nd Quartile 5-50% (BAC= ) 3 rd Quartile 50-75% (BAC= ) 4 th Quartile % (BAC= ) Refused to take test (BAC unknown) Total n/a

3 Average BAC s: 4 th Quartile Number Percent of Arrestees in the 4 th Quartile 1 st Quartile 0-5% (BAC= ) nd Quartile 5-50% (BAC= ) 3 rd Quartile 50-75% (BAC=.0-.30) 4 th Quartile % (BAC=.3-.33) Total Criminal Histories As a group DUI arrestees do not have extensive DUI or overall criminal histories Future research should compare DUI arrestees to both the general population and criminal subpopulation Are DUI arrestees more criminally involved than the general population or criminals in general? DUI Criminal History DUI Convictions (see next slide for table) Over three-quarters of the sample had no prior DUI Almost 90 percent had no more than one. Only 5 percent of the sample had three or more prior DUI at the time of their arrest. Three prior mark the threshold for being charged under Hawaii s 001 habitual drunk driver law (HRS ) as well as the current statute (HRS 91E- 61.5). Thus, small group of persistent offenders (see recommendations) Most likely for most of this group their DUI offenses are a part of general criminal involvement and social disorganization -- very highly correlated (.697, p<.001) NOT IN REPORT. Plain English: people who have many DUI also have many other types of criminal Errata sheet DUI misdemeanors 3

4 Prior DUI Convictions # of prior DUI Convictions Number of Arrestees Percent Cumulative Percent % total % General Criminal History Approximately two-thirds of the sample had no arrests or of any type at the time of their arrest and, of those who did, three-quarters of the offenses fell in the misdemeanor and petty misdemeanor/violation categories. See next slide for data Small group with extensive criminal histories Again, future research should compare the criminal histories of DUI arrestees to those of both the general population and the criminal subpopulation. Criminal Histories of DUI Arestees General Criminal History (Including DUI) 0 Priors 1 Prior -5 Priors 5+ Priors Percent w/ at least 1 prior Convictions Total Convictions Felony Convictions Misdemeanor Convictions Petty Misdemeanor/Violation Convictions Arrests Total Arrests Felony Arrests Misdemeanor Arrests Petty Misdemeanor/Violation Arrests

5 Relating Criminal History and BAC DUI arrestees with priors had higher average BAC s in three categories: DUI Arrests DUI Convictions Prior Criminal Convictions Prior Arrests differences NOT statistically significant, but close (7.6% error vs. 4.9 % error) Plain English: DUI arrestees with priors have more alcohol in their system See next slides for 3 significant results However, the average difference is in the range of.0 BAC. As explained in the report, these results should be interpreted with caution. Prior vs. No Prior DUI Arrests No Prior DUI arrests One or more Prior DUI arrests Number Mean BAC Average Difference BAC T= -.6, df=431, p<=.01 Statistically significant: At least 99% unlikely that the difference is due to chance. Stakeholders: 0. BAC = approx 1 ½ drinks average-sized male/female Prior vs. No Prior DUI Convictions # Mean BAC Average Difference No Prior DUI One or more Prior DUI BAC t= -.65 df=431 p<=.01 Statistically significant: At least 99% unlikely that the difference is due to chance. Stakeholders: 0. BAC = approx 1 ½ drinks average-sized male/female 5

6 Prior vs. No Prior Criminal Convictions (General Criminal History) No Prior One or more Prior t= -.65 # df=431 Mean BAC p<=.01 Average Difference BAC Statistically significant: At least 99% unlikely that the difference is due to chance. Stakeholders: 0. BAC = approx 1 ½ drinks average-sized male/female Case Outcomes High Conviction Rates ~83% of all arrestees ~90% of arrestees with BACs above legal limit of.08 Perhaps gives support to the idea going through the trouble of making the PAS device legally admissible evidence public/private partnership would advocacy groups would be willing to help fund this? alcohol industry could be asked to contribute DUI-Related Motor Vehicle Collisions ( MVCs ) DUI-related fatalities not included (or known), but topic for further research About 30% of DUI arrests involved MVC Half single and multiple MVCs Almost 1/3 of DUI-related MVCs had injuries. Approx /3 of those sustained injuries that required emergency transportation to a hospital. Single vehicle MVC s had more serious injuries Single MVC s 37% Multiple MVC s 13.4 % Stakeholders: Related to speed and less serious fender benders Additional research should be conducted to determine if DUI-related MVCs are more dangerous than non-dui-related collisions in terms of the likelihood and/or severity of injuries. 6

7 Average BAC and MVCs MVC s higher average BAC than no MVC p<.05, +.01 BAC (approx 1 more drink) Multiple MVC s higher average BAC than no MVC P<.01, +.05 (1.5 to more drinks) No difference between single and multiple MVC Surprising result: Average BAC actually lower in MVCs which result in an injury than in accidents that did not result in an injury Perhaps due to time for hospital transport Multiple vehicle MVC s include many minor fender benders reported for insurance reasons Small difference of about.01 to.0 BAC about one drink? BAC Test Refusers and Consenters Criminal Histories 8 (5.6%) arrestees refused to take BAC test On average, BAC test refusers have greater number of prior DUI arrests (1.5 vs. 0.59) than consenters Also more misdemeanor, petty misdemeanor, and violation of any type Prior DUI NOT statistically significant Plain English: BAC test refusers have had more DUI arrests and overall contact with the criminal justice system than do BAC test consenters This makes sense: more savvy defendant Conviction Rates of Refusers and Consenters Although not statistically significant: Conviction Rate for Refusers = 69% Conviction Rate for Consenters = 83% MEDIA PLEASE DO NOT REPORT!! Too few refusers in sample for statistical tests -- additional research need to determine whether difference is real 7

8 Recommendations Overview Simplify BAC test consent form Approve PAS device BAC as admissible evidence Focus on deterring average citizen Conduct additional research Simplify BAC Test Consent Form Strong consensus amongst stakeholders that current form is too long and can be dramatically shortened Arrestees are intoxicated while a long form is being read to them Neighbor islands use much shorter forms successfully Proposed revision in Appendix Make PAS BAC Legally Admissible PAS results likely higher than station BAC To make PAS legally admissible Urge the State Department of Health to approve the PAS as a blood testing device in Hawaii. Set up a program to field test individual PAS devices on a monthly basis in order to assess and ensure accuracy. Opportunity for public/private partnership? Set up a training program to ensure that police officers use the PAS properly in the field. Opportunity for public/private partnership? 8

9 Focus on Deterring Average Citizen Huge reductions in DUI over past 5 years probably due to deterring average citizen rather than hardcore alcohol/drug addict Average citizen is largest pool of potential DUI offenders Threat of punishment (deterrence) most effective for people with a stake in conventional life Government agencies and advocacy groups should work cooperatively to obtain both public and private funding, as appropriate, for these efforts. What Works According to Research DUI deterrence results from combined effects of a number of variables that result in: more DUI enforcement and news coverage These result in a greater perceived risk of arrest and thus a reduction in DUI Government and advocacy groups should work cooperatively to find private/public partnerships create funding to create more DUI enforcement and news coverage Taxpayers unlikely to support government doing it all. Download a Copy of the Report cpja.ag.state.hi.us Mahalo! 9