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OVI checkpoints valuable teaching tool
(by Sue Reid - June 13, 2012)
OVI checkpoints valuable teaching tool
By SUE REID
Time and history have shown -- again and again -- that the combination of drinking and driving can lead to tragedy that affects so many people, Solon Police Chief Christopher P. Viland said.
As a result, the department continues to educate the public of the dangers of drinking and driving while at the same time works diligently in the area of enforcement and prevention.
"The more we can do to prevent drinking and driving -- that is our obligation," Mr. Viland noted.
One of the ways the department accomplishes this goal is through regular OVI checkpoints, the most recent held on Memorial Day weekend.
"We have now started to publicize, through Facebook and Twitter, actual OVI checkpoints that people see on a fairly frequent basis," Mr. Viland said. "I think we may have affected some of our local residents that they may not be choosing to consume and drive. We might have changed the thinking about it."
Mr. Viland said that, as a member of the Cuyahoga County OVI Task Force, Solon's department schedules its OVI checkpoints simultaneously with the county.
"For them, Memorial Day is a big issue, which is why we picked it," Mr. Viland said. A traffic study to show a history of OVI crashes and arrests had to be done for the area.
"If we can't show that we have a history, we can't have a checkpoint there," Mr. Viland said. "The place we choose is where we have had a significant number of crashes involving alcohol."
This checkpoint was held on SOM Center Road (Route 91), between Solon and Bainbridge roads, southbound only, from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.
It was a successful checkpoint, Mr. Viland said, nothing there were no OVI arrests as a result. However, arrests were made for driving under suspension, misdemeanor drug abuse and on a warrant for another agency.
Mr. Viland explained that as vehicles enter the checkpoint, every so many are stopped. The driver is then asked for proof of a driver's license, and the officer has a short conversation with him or her to educate them as to why this is being done.
"If there is a smell of alcohol, we divert them off to the side and handle those issues," he said
Mr. Viland said the OVI checkpoints are "incredibly valuable, more as an educational tool than an enforcement tool.
"I think we do better with OVI patrols where we put cars on the road," he continued. "This gives us the opportunity that every driver we talk to we are able to explain what we are doing and the dangers of alcohol and driving.
"In terms of educating the public, they are tremendously valuable," Mr. Viland said of those patrols.
Mr. Viland said the department gets roughly 100 OVI's annually. One of the city's two fatal crashes last year was alcohol related, he noted.
Also in the area of education, before all the holidays considered to be "drinking holidays" such as St. Patrick's Day and for the Superbowl, officers go to local taverns and bars and give out cab vouchers and other educational literature.
"We distribute those periodically," Mr. Viland said.
The department also does two to three targeted OVI patrols annually, Mr. Viland said, in conjunction with the county.
"We don't do a checkpoint, but put additional patrol officers on the road specifically looking for those violations," Mr. Viland said.
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