DWI's: THE NO REFUSAL PROGRAM . . .
DWI’s: The No Refusal Program
DWI cases are one of the most difficult crimes to successfully prosecute for many reasons. In fact, this is one of the few crimes where suspects are generally allowed to refuse to provide physical evidence of the commission of the crime to police. This ability often results in dismissals, adverse verdicts, or reductions to lesser crimes. Prosecutors and police are using a new tool to combat a suspect's ability to refuse to provide evidence in DWI crimes. The No Refusal Program is an extremely effective tool at policing, prosecuting, punishing, and rehabilitating DWI offenders and has recently been promoted by the United States Department of Transportation, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, as well as being featured on The Today Show, CNN, Fox News, and other national news outlets.
The No Refusal program is an enforcement strategy that allows jurisdictions to obtain search warrants for blood samples from suspected impaired drivers who refuse breath tests. Many jurisdictions allow officers to request warrants via phone from on-call judges or magistrates. This enables law enforcement to legally acquire a proper blood sample from drivers who refuse to give a breath sample. During these specified enforcement efforts, prosecutors and judges make themselves available to streamline the warrant acquisition process and help build solid cases that can lead to impaired driving convictions.
In addition to an explanation of the above difficulties, the No Refusal presentation will detail the methods employed to create and foster a successful No Refusal Program. It will also highlight the typical results of a successful No Refusal program including reduction in fatalities, reduction in DWIs, increase in convictions, and discovery of better treatment options for offenders. Lastly, the presentation will highlight some of the differences between offenders such as youthful offenders versus others.
Northwest Alcohol Conference
