Tuolumne County To Seek DUI/Drug Enforcement Training And Cameras
Sonora, CA — There is a multi-agency initiative in development to crack down on DUI drivers in Tuolumne County.
It is a partnership between the Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office, Sonora Police Department, and Tuolumne County Transportation Council.
As part of the effort, the Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office will seek over $150,000 in funding (with a 20% local match) through the Safer Streets for All grant program.
If awarded, it will focus on three main areas.
The first is enrolling deputies in California Peace Officer Standards Training related to DUI detection and drug recognition. The second is contracting with the company AXON for the purchase and installation of three strategically placed License Plate Recognition (LPR) cameras. They would aid in identifying vehicles associated with DUI, Be-On-The-Lookout Alerts, drivers with outstanding DUI warrants, and repeat offenders. The third portion is doing six DUI operations, looking for offenders, and also doing arrest warrant service.
The Supervisors voted 5-0 to allow the Tuolumne County Transportation Council to apply for the Safer Streets funding on behalf of the sheriff’s office. Some of the board members posed questions to Sheriff David Vasquez about the logistics of a potential license plate recognition camera. Supervisor Anaiah Kirk referenced the Patriot Act following 911 as having negative consequences for privacy rights, and he indicated he would like to see further discussion on that topic if the county is successful in receiving the grant.
Sheriff Vasquez indicated that the cameras would be used in a limited way, with checks and balances, and audits of the information that is pulled, to ensure the system isn’t abused. He stressed that it would only be used if there is a “right to know, and a need to know.”
He referenced a case a few years ago in which a mother out of the county called and said that her son was kidnapped by the boy’s father and taken to Tuolumne County. Vasquez added, “We have a lot of area that we are covering (5,500 square miles), and we just knew that they were somewhere in the county, possibly at a campground. If we had adequate LPR (cameras), we would have at least been able to know which arm of the county they were in. But, we were too late. It ended up being a murder-suicide.”
Vasquez continued, “These types of things, whether it is DUI, other violent crimes, or any type of complaint where time is of the essence and we have vulnerable folks involved, to be able to have a starting point, in the county the size that we have, with a lot of geography to cover, is extremely helpful for us.”
He noted that the City of Sonora’s Police Department has been using a couple of these types of LPR cameras for about five years.
The county anticipates to learn in the next couple of months if it is successful in receiving the grant funding.
