Cops get new tool in fight against DWI

Posted at: 09/03/2009 9:05 PM | Updated at: 09/04/2009 9:34 AM
By: Eric Kahnert, Eyewitnes News 4, Matthew Kappus, KOB.com

Police have a new tool that can help them catch drunk drivers before they can cause a fatal wreck.

Linda Atkinson of the DWI Resource Center showed us the Operational Deployment Resource Allocator Wednesday.

It is a website based on six years of alcohol-involved crash data—and it’s only available to law enforcement. If the DWI Resource Center gets additional funding from the Department of Justice, the website could be available within a year.

Police can plug in their county, enter the data and select a time, and get the top 20 intersections with the highest probability of a DWI crash.

It even takes into account holidays and weekends.

"I'm hoping that this is a tool that law enforcement can say, 'This is the neatest thing since sliced bread,” Atkinson said.

Atkinson says officers can now set up checkpoints in the areas where drunk drivers are most likely to be, which will save lives.

"It's a matter of law enforcement making those decisions strategically,” Atkinson said.

In the past month, about 12 New Mexico agencies have started to use the program.

The allocator indicates that between 10:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 3, the intersection with the highest risk factor for an alcohol-involved crash is San Mateo and Pan American East. Second on the list is Zuni and San Pablo southeast.

Below are the worst intersections for DWI collisions over the Labor Day weekend:

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