Saturday, January 19, 2008

Intoxylizers in wider use?

I applaud the UCSB police for using an investigative tool to determine just how drunk a woman was whom they recently arrested for public intoxication. She was, however, found face down vomiting, but that's beside the point. I support the use of intoxylizers by police before they book someone on a charge of drunk in public. Such a practice would significantly reduce the number of people needlessly booked and prosecuted. While rare, occasionally the police do book individuals for public intoxication by alcohol who have had either nothing (yes, nothing) or very trivial amounts of alcohol to drink. The intoxylizers, which are readily available to the police, and easy to use, are just the trick to better ensure that these injustices will not occur. I know, I know, it'll be tough to administer the test to someone then let them go if they test in a range that suggests that they are likely capable of getting safely home, but you just might sleep a little better at night knowing that you didn't cause an innocent person to spend a night in jail and very likely render them a criminal.

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