Anchorage Daily News

Anchorage police this year have seen a marked increase in the number of driving-under-the-influence arrests they are making -- so far up about 500 over the total number from last year and on track to nearly double the total for 2006.

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And the holiday season has just begun.

As of Wednesday, police had made 2,438 arrests for driving under the influence -- already a nearly 25 percent increase over last year's total. If things keep pace, police are on track to have arrested the equivalent of 1 percent of Anchorage for driving under the influence.

"Now, some of those are repeat customers," said police Lt. Dave Parker, "but that is a horrendous number."

Police attribute the jump to several factors, including having more officers out on the streets, using highway grant funding to keep them out longer and placing an increased focus on nabbing impaired drivers.

State authorities say the increase in DUI arrests has been repeating itself across the state. Alaska Highway Safety Office administrator Cindy Cashen said her office has, in general, seen increases statewide, particularly in areas where law enforcement has made a strong push to corral impaired drivers.

Whether that means more people are driving drunk or more of those who do are simply getting caught is not clear, however.

"What the data shows us is where there's enforcement, there's an increase in DUI arrests," Cashen said. "Now, do we know what's going on on those roads when there isn't sufficient enforcement? We don't know."

But in areas where a law enforcement presence is minimal, there is a corresponding increase in the rates of accidents with injuries and fatalities, she said.

Law enforcement officials say they plan to combat that by working the streets in force this holiday season, traditionally the busiest time of year.

Parker said police plan to "keep the pressure on" and will have a few extra details out patrolling specifically for drunken drivers, but in general the level of enforcement will be the same as the already increased level.

"It's a huge and serious problem," Parker said. "But you see it in the number of traffic deaths, the number of injury accidents and things like that -- they automatically drop off when you have a strong DUI enforcement."

Alaska State Troopers too are planning to up enforcement over the holiday season, in part funding overtime hours with federal grant money, spokeswoman Megan Peters said.

Cashen said in the central region -- ranging from the Kenai Peninsula to Fairbanks -- troopers will be "sharing the roads" with local law enforcement in a multi-jurisdictional push that will allow more officers to be on the roads for longer periods of time. The reason is that the greater the enforcement effort, the safer the roads are, she said.

"The most effective way to get the impaired driver off the road is the fear of getting caught," Cashen said. "Nothing else works."

Contrary to popular belief, there is no set number of drinks people can consume before they will exceed the blood-alcohol threshold of .08 that marks a drunken driver, Peters said. "A couple drinks" can impact different people differently, depending on their size, weight and other factors, she said.

"You don't have to be falling-down drunk to be impaired," Peters said. "Don't set yourself up to make a poor choice. ... There are ways, and it's really not that difficult to find a ride."

A first-time DUI offender is looking at a minimum of about $1,900 in fines and fees, three days in jail and three months without a driver's license. Penalties increase significantly for subsequent offenses.

Find James Halpin online at adn.com/contact/jhalpin or call him at 257-4589.

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