DUI Offender Programs

Overview

The Placer County Probation Department, with funding from the Office of Traffic Safety, developed an intensive supervision caseload in order to effectively supervise the highest risk and/or habitual driving under the influence (DUI) offenders under its jurisdiction. This federally funded program seeks to reduce the number of accidents and fatalities related to driving while intoxicated in Placer County.

The Intensive Supervision DUI caseload is an intensive supervision caseload that targets high risk drunk drivers in Placer County. With an emphasis on field work, DUI officers collaborate with DUI treatment providers and local law enforcement to increase compliance with court-ordered treatment requirements and conditions of probation as they relate to drinking and driving. DUI Officers conduct warrant sweeps, office visits, and random, unannounced home visits with on-the-spot alcohol and/or drug testing. The focus of this program is community safety, victim reparations, and offender rehabilitation.

Press Release Regarding DUI Programs

Felony and repeat misdemeanor DUI offenders are over-represented in traffic crashes involving alcohol or other drugs, often with tragic results. A $69,136 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety to the Placer County Probation Department will ensure these worst-of-the-worst DUI offenders are complying with all court orders.

“This program increases our resources to effectively supervise high-risk DUI cases in our community,” said Chief Probation Officer Marshall Hopper. “Our intensive services, unannounced contacts, and direct interventions continuously remind offenders of their court-ordered terms and conditions. This program holds offenders accountable, providing for safer roadways in our community.”

The grant will fund officers to intensely monitor drivers on probation for felony DUI or multiple misdemeanor DUI convictions. Supervision for these high-risk offenders will include unannounced home searches, random alcohol and drug testing and monitoring to ensure compliance with court-ordered DUI education and treatment programs.

The Intensive Probation Supervision for High-Risk Felony and Repeat DUI Offenders grant is aimed at reducing the number of persons killed and injured in alcohol and other drug-related collisions in the county. In 2011, 5 were killed and 221 injured in such crashes in Placer County.

The Placer County Probation Department will also collaborate with other local law enforcement agencies to conduct DUI/driver license checkpoints and warrant service operations targeting individuals who fail to make court appearances after DUI arrests.

Drunk driving is one of America’s deadliest crimes. In 2011, nationally 9,778 people died in highway crashes involving drivers or motorcycle operators with blood alcohol concentrations (BAC) of.08 or higher. In California, the number killed was 774, with over 24,000 seriously injured.

Funding for the grant is from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.