03/08/08 — VERNON TOWNSHIP — Vernon Township Police Chief Randy Detzel said it’s not uncommon for drunk drivers to give themselves away after they’re stopped. Dazedly fumbling to hand an officer a credit card as personal identification, for example, could be one sure-fire indicator of inebriation.

Sound sort of humorous?

Consider then, Detzel said, that those drivers are, at least in theory, in control of thousands of pounds of metal traveling at various speeds on area roads. And often, that control is lost, resulting in the sorts of alcohol-related crashes that change — and sometimes end — lives in an instant.

More than 40 people were killed in drunk driving-related crashes in Crawford County between 2002 and 2006, according to the state Department of Transportation.

But now, armed with a $49,000 grant awarded through PennDOT, several area police departments have kicked off the new Crawford County DUI Task Force in an effort to reduce those numbers.

The task force was announced Friday in Vernon by Frank Baranyai, retired chief of Cochranton Police Department and the project’s coordinator; Crawford County District Attorney Francis Schultz; Cathy Tress, regional director of the state DUI Association; officers from Cambridge Springs, Cochranton, Conneaut Lake, Linesville and Vernon and West Mead townships; and other officials.

The grant, awarded to the task force early last month, will be used to pay for equipment and officer overtime for additional drunk-driving enforcement on local roadways, including roving patrols and sobriety checkpoints, officials said. The task force is one of approximately 50 DUI-enforcement partnering efforts funded by the state, according to Tress.

“The goal is not to just go out there and arrest people,” she said. “The goal is to save lives.”

Drunk driving is a big problem in Crawford County, said Schultz. More than one-third of all cases prosecuted through his office are DUI-related, and the numbers have risen over the past two years — from 430 in 2006 to 442 in 2007.

And “it’s not ‘just a DUI.’ Drunk drivers kill and injure innocent victims every year,” he said. “This grant is certainly going to save lives in Crawford County.”

The task force’s enforcement coordinators are Cambridge Springs Police Department Chief Eric Johnston and Conneaut Lake Regional Police Department Sgt. Greg Nichols. Assisting the task force member departments are the Crawford County Adult Probation Office and Pennsylvania State Police at Meadville.



By the numbers: DUI in Crawford County

Forty-two people were killed in 663 drunk driving-related crashes in Crawford County between 2002 and 2006, according to the state Department of Transportation.

During that same time period, area law enforcement agencies made a total of 1,916 DUI-related arrests.

Here’s a sample of Pennsylvania’s statewide DUI grading and sentencing guidelines:

n First offense in 10 years — Depending on the level of impairment, convicted drunk drivers may be sentenced to pay between $300 and $5,000 in fines and serve between six months of probation and six months of jail time.

n Second offense in 10 years — Depending on the level of impairment, convicted drunk drivers may be sentenced to pay between $300 and $10,000 in fines and serve between five days and five years of jail time.

n Third and subsequent offenses in 10 years — Depending on the level of impairment, convicted drunk drivers may be sentenced to pay between $500 and $10,000 in fines and serve between 10 days and five years of jail time.

n Fourth and subsequent offenses in 10 years — Depending on the level of impairment, convicted drunk drivers may be sentenced to pay between $1,500 and $10,000 in fines and serve between one and five years of jail time.

And the penalties don’t end there — convicted drunk drivers could also face license suspensions and mandatory ignition lock devices, community service traffic safety courses and drug-and-alcohol assessments.

For more information, visit the Pennsylvania DUI Association at www.padui.org or call (800) 62-PADUI.