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He hopes the Hamilton Rotary Club can convince other Rotarians across the state to join forces in working for change. “We’re in the midst of a terrible situation in this state,” Smith said. “I don’t believe that there’s a single Rotarian here who wouldn’t do whatever they can to help save lives by working to keep drunk drivers off the road.” Some of the same officials who shared their views over lunch would later attend a justice court hearing of a Hamilton man charged with injuring a Montana Highway Patrol trooper over the weekend in an alleged drunken driving incident in Darby. “This is not a once in awhile thing,” Ravalli County Sheriff Chris Hoffman said. “We’re dealing with these on a daily basis.” There’s a need for a grassroots effort from people across the state to work together toward changing a mindset that drinking and driving is acceptable, Montana Highway Patrol Captain Tom Hamilton told the group. People need to voice their support for tougher laws to their legislators. And, just as important, Montanans need to look each other in the eye and not be afraid to tell their family members, neighbors and friends that they are ashamed when those folks get behind the wheel and drive drunk, Hamilton said. “It’s a societal problem,” he said. “We need groups like the Rotary and the Kiwanis to take an interest and let their voices be heard.” Every year about 230 people lose their lives on Montana’s highways, Hamilton said. About 90 of those deaths are alcohol related. “It’s becoming clear to all that we need some change in our driving under the influence legislation,” said Ravalli County Attorney George Corn. “There’s not going to be one silver bullet. We’re not going to be able to pass one law and fix this problem.” To make a change that matters will require a comprehensive approach that includes better education, more access to rehabilitation programs and tougher deterrents, Corn said. An interim state legislative committee is currently reviewing Montana’s driving under the influence statutes and considering alternative penalties or new technologies that could go a long way in keeping drunks off the roadways. The committee meets again next week in Helena. Corn said there are a variety of ideas that are being considered that could make a real difference, including requiring people with their first, second and third DUIs to check in with law enforcement on a regular basis for a breath test. “That would create a big fork in the road for many people,” Corn said. “It wouldn’t be about just going and seeing a judge and serving 24 hours anymore. They would have to come in and blow … a lot of people aren’t going to want to go down that path.” Corn also would like to see the state find a way to fund a local probation officer for misdemeanors. The first three DUIs on a person’s record are now considered a misdemeanor. The fourth is a felony. A misdemeanor probation officer would ensure that offenders complete the programs and follow the conditions of their sentences required by the court. The officer’s wages could be paid from a portion of the fines collected in each county. Currently, Corn said most of those fines are delivered to Helena. Corn said there also needs to be a DUI public education drive similar the successful methamphetamine campaign that makes driving drunk socially unacceptable. Sen. Jim Shockley, R-Victor, said funding will be tight during the next legislative session and it will be challenging to find monies for any new programs. “It’s about money,” Shockley said. “About 8 percent of the general fund is corrections.” The state’s WATCH program is an example of an alcohol rehabilitation program that works, he said. About 90 percent of its attendees show no recidivism in the five years following their graduation from the program. About 72 percent commit no crimes at all during that time period. The program is not cheap. “It costs about $15,000 a pop,” Shockley said. While people want to solve this issue of drinking and driving, there aren’t many who want to see their taxes go up, he said. Still, Shockley said the rehabilitation program is cheaper and works better than sending drunk drivers to prison in Deer Lodge. “Anyone who got rehabilitated in Deer Lodge was an accident,” Shockley said. Shockley puts drunken drivers into two different classes. One has hope for rehabilitation. The other includes those with multiple DUI convictions who decided a long time ago they will not change. For the later, Shockley said the state should consider creating a low-cost holding facility where those repeat offenders can be warehoused. Both Corn and Shockley have seen the legislature reject proposals that would stiffen DUI laws fail during past sessions. Both were hopeful that this time might be different. “I believe we’ve reached a tipping point, if everyone can just keep the pressure on,” Corn said. Panel hears pleas for tribal, law enforcement cooperationCooperation among neighboring law enforcement jurisdictions was a hot topic during a meeting of the state's Tribal Relations Interim Committee on Thursday at the Capitol. Jim Smith, the co-executive director of the Montana Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, said the complex maze of state, county, federal and tribal jurisdictions can be alleviated somewhat if agencies are more familiar with each other. This would keep communities on and off the reservation safer, he said. These relationships can be strengthened through training and education, Smith said. Agencies in and around the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation recently told Smith that there is great cooperation between tribal authorities and the Blaine County Sheriff's Office on major crimes or search and rescues. But more difficult matters to unravel are administrative issues such as parole and probation, civil paper services and extradition, Smith was told.
Drunks weave around rules: Multiple offenders realize it pays not to take Breathalyzer testDrunks, it turns out, are pretty good learners. Sure, they might keep getting DUI after DUI, but with each arrest they also get better and better at beating the system. “That’s how it works,” said Becky Sturdevant. “There’s no doubt about it.” Sturdevant lost her son, a Montana Highway Patrol trooper, to a drunken driver back in 2008, and since then she’s made it her business to track DUI trends in Flathead County. Most troubling, she said, is the number of drunken drivers who successfully limit the evidence against them by refusing to blow into a Breathalyzer. In 2009, Sturdevant followed 132 DUI cases. Of those arrested, about 55 percent agreed to blow into a Breathalyzer, but 45 percent did not. Interestingly, among those arrested on their first DUI, only 39 percent refused; but of those arrested for felony DUI – their fourth, or more – nearly 75 percent refused. “And it seems that people who refuse the blood-alcohol content test, and the field sobriety test, then there’s much less evidence to take to a jury, and the cases are much more likely to be plea bargained down,” Sturdevant said. “It’s the biggest loophole out there, and it’s the No. 1 thing we can change if we want to get serious about drinking and driving,” said Jim Smith, who represents the Montana County Attorneys Association. Which is why his group and many others are advocating for a new state law that would criminalize refusal. (Currently, Montana law holds that people who refuse to take a Breathalyzer lose their driver’s license for a year. But plenty of repeat DUI offenders have no qualms about driving without a license.) “The position is, the penalty for refusing the test ought to be the same as the penalty for a DUI offense,” Smith said.
Legislation addresses brandishing of gunsMore guns may be making appearances in confrontations across Utah, adding intensity, for better or worse. Newly proposed legislation would be a green light for concealed-gun owners to openly carry firearms and, if threatened, draw or exhibit their weapons and verbally threaten deadly force. Depending on whom you ask, that gun-induced intensity could defuse confrontations more quickly, or it could lead to more deadly violence. The bill's sponsor, Rep. Stephen Sandstrom, R-Orem, said HB78 clarifies existing law with "affirmative language" that would provide gun owners another option to defend themselves or others around them.
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