Misdemeanors Mean Something By: Captain Sean Sanborn If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me on a traffic stop, “Don’t you have anything better to do?” I would be retired and living on a tropical island. Folks, in general, seem to look down on traffic safety conducted by law enforcement personnel as if it means less than everything else. While we may debate the merits of traffic laws, it is much easier to point to the evidence. A large portion of my career has been devoted to traffic safety. I decided early on that the misdemeanor crime of Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicants (DUII) was a worthy topic to educate myself on. In delving into this area of law enforcement, my investigative skills increased in every other manner. After all, an investigation of one type leads to investigative experience of all kinds. I proudly served as a Drug Recognition Evaluator (DRE) during my career. A DRE is a specially trained officer who may determine impairment by substances other than alcohol. It is a challenging course that requires extensive training. I am also an instructor on DUII testing (Standardized Field Sobriety Testing), and the instrument Oregon uses to conduct a breath test to determine a blood alcohol level (BAC) called the Intoxilyzer 8000. Many, even among my fellow officers and deputies, ask why I would put so much effort into investigating what, in Oregon, is a relatively low-level crime like DUII. So much case law and learning surrounds this niche field that some do not consider it worth it. I disagree; it is totally worth it. It is my opinion that whenever I arrest and take an impaired driver off of the roadway, I am potentially stopping a homicide in progress. In an article published by MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) published on April 4, 2024, it was estimated that 13000 people died on the roadways in the United States as a result of impaired driving in 2022. (https://madd.org/press-release/more-than-13000-people-died-in-alcohol-related-crashes-for-second-straight-year/) This is just the price paid in terms of human casualties and does not reflect the costs associated with property damage as a result of crashes. In Oregon, in 2022, there were 673 alcohol related crashes. Coos County accounts for 9 of them. In crashes where drugs were involved, Oregon experienced 389 crashes and Coos County itself experienced 7. There were 16 crashes which are documented by the state in 2022 in Coos County which are directly attributed to drug or alcohol impairment. And that is what we know about, I am certain there are more we don’t know about. In 2023 preliminary data shows that there were 14 crashes, six fatal, six injury and two with property damage only that occurred in Coos County (https://public.tableau.com/shared/BKS458GQW?:display_count=n&:origin=viz_share_link). It should be noted the attached link is searchable and fields will need to be changed for the numbers I cited. I would encourage anyone who reads this, to consider the impact that these senseless deaths have on families, friends and the community. In Coos County the drug epidemic rages around us. We constantly see memes and other comments on social media which comment on the drug problem we have in this community. In a time of diminished resources, we are seeing a rise in crimes of all types. This one crime, this misdemeanor of DUII can be stopped by a simple choice. People can choose not to drink and drive. People can choose not to operate a vehicle while using cannabis or other drugs, people can choose to care about someone other than themselves and their personal convenience. Misdemeanors mean something, DUII is not just a low-level crime but one which has serious impacts upon the community. The legal ramifications are much lower than the cost of a life, but they will hurt the pocket book and your reputation. Here at the Coos County Sheriff’s Office, we release every arrest we make for any crime in which we arrest someone. We will not remove those posts. If we catch a person for impaired driving it will absolutely be memorialized on our Facebook page and provided to every newspaper in the county and some across the state. All of the data I am providing you is searchable, attached are some links regarding crash related statistics in the State of Oregon. It is evident that there is a problem and it is not getting better: https://geo.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=df0b3cdb2f1149d3bd43436bc1dd4eac https://www.oregon.gov/odot/data/pages/crash-data-viewer.aspx https://geo.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=0f2128152a764143bac02c1a869a5a51 https://ordot.sharepoint.com/sites/GIS/SitePages/WebApplications.aspx In closing, I ask folks to make good choices. I do not begrudge anyone a beer after work, or on the weekends. What I do begrudge is the choice to get behind the wheel and impose your choice to consume alcohol or drugs upon everyone else on the roadway. Misdemeanor’s mean something, but lives mean more