As the fall semester begins, the Tempe Police task force is cracking down on drunken driving near campus and ASU Police is focusing on traffic safety and alcohol-related incidents.
A Tempe police DUI task force arrested more than 150 impaired drivers last weekend as students returned to the city
.
The four-day task force resulted in 165 driving-under-the-influence arrests; 152 were misdemeanor arrests and 13 were felony arrests.
“Because it was the first week of school, the focus was around campus,” ASU Police Cmdr. Jim Hardina said.
Of those arrests, 33 were extreme DUI (blood-alcohol level above .15) and 22 involved drivers under the legal drinking age of 21.
The average blood-alcohol level for those who were arrested was .139.
Arizona’s DUI laws are among the most severe in the nation. A first-time offender with a blood-alcohol level less that .15 must serve at least 10 days in jail, pay at least a $250 dollar fine and have a suspended license for at least 90 days.
An underage driver can be charged with both a DUI and underage drinking and driving.
While DUI enforcement is constant, other alcohol enforcements have stepped up for the start of the school year.
ASU’s police force is currently working in two shifts, Hardina said.
The day shift focuses on pedestrian and bike violations; this week officers are educating students about roles and will cite violators next week.
“[The] day shift is doing a heavy emphasis on traffic and light rail enforcement,” Hardina said.
These are mostly pedestrian and bike violations that involve riding on the wrong side of the road, jaywalking and walking against a “don’t walk” sign, he said.
Most of these citations are given out on Apache Boulevard in front of Vista Del Sol and on Veterans Way behind the San Pablo residence hall, Hardina said.
Each officer will issue 20 to 30 citations per day during the next week, Hardina estimated.
The night-shift patrol uses all types of officers, including uniformed officers in the residential halls.
“[There is] a heavy emphasis in the [residential] halls and on Alpha Drive and alcohol enforcement,” Hardina said. “There is high visibility so the students know there are cops on campus.”
There are also undercover officers involved in alcohol enforcement and ASU officers are working with the Tempe Bike Squad, which spends time on campus.
“All violent crime on campus is related to alcohol,” Hardina said.
These crimes typically include sexual assaults, fighting, disorderly conduct and other related events.
Last weekend ASU police cited seven people under 21 with alcohol consumption violations, three minor-in-possession-of-alcohol violations and one under-21-in-possession-of-alcohol violation, according to the ASU Crime Log.
“Since this last weekend we have transported four or five students to the hospital [who were] completely comatose from alcohol overdose,” he said. “Every year we have students fall off buildings drunk.”
Reach the reporter at nathan.meacham@asu.edu.
