7.15.2008

Why Aren't Most New Hampshire DWI Arrests Video Recorded?

Just about everywhere you go today in public you are being videotaped. You are videotaped at your bank, supermarket, shopping mall, drive through lines for fast food, donut shops, even little convenience stores. Just about every place is equipped with a video camera these days. If some one holds up a little store or commits just about any crime in public there is a video of the event on the evening news, copied from a surveillance camera. It has become very inexpensive to capture a high quality audio and video recording for safety and security purposes of just about every aspect of our everyday lives.

When you watch cop shows at night all sorts of DWI and other arrests are captured on cruiser videos all over the country. You can see clearly and hear easily whether the driver is drunk or not on these video recordings made from cruiser cameras. Police departments all around the country also video and audio record bookings. With a good quality video recording little is left to the imagination as to whether the driver was really drunk or not. So why aren't most DWI arrests in New Hampshire video and audio recorded?

Is it a "safety issue"? It would seem unlikely that there is a safety issue here that doesn't exist in any other part of the United States. Is it cost? That seems unlikely with the massive amount of money being thrown into inefficient DWI roadblocks and inaccurate hand-held breath testing gadgets. Last year stories were published about a $400,000.00 "batmobile" for the local police to use during DWI roadblocks. It cannot seriously be argued that the police cannot afford to videotape DWI arrests.

So if it's not safety and it's not cost, what could it be? We all know that DWI is a serious law enforcement concern; we hear that all the time, year after road-blocking year. Wouldn't the best way to prosecute a drunk driving case be to show the judge or jury a videotape of the driver if he or she was really drunk? So why don't the police want to show a videotape of a drunk driver at a drunk driving trial?

Could it be that some of the people arrested for drunk driving are not drunk? Or that they really don't act and speak as drunkardly as the police reports describe? It is easy enough to form your own conclusions as to why most DWI arrests are not videotaped.

Have a good night,

Mark Stevens

LAW OFFICES OF MARK STEVENS
5 Manor Parkway
Salem, NH 03079
603-893-0074

http://www.ByeByeDWI.com

http://www.ByeByeDUI.com

http://www.ByeByeOUI.com


Legal Advertising

3 comments:

  1. Yes a good point. Just because these police officers got power they are using it for their benefits. It is very embarrassing! I firmly believe all the DUI arrests should be videotaped, since the punishment for DUI arrests is very severe. What are the punishments for DUI arrest in Arizona? Can a dui lawyer in arizona help to come out with minimal punishments?

    ReplyDelete
  2. What is considered driving under the influence?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Funny you bring this up, The Police Dept. has video/audio recording (not in the cruisers), it so happens that statements I made, contradicting the officers report ( prior to knowing there was a recording) just happen to be missing from the video, over a minute and a half...coincidence, I doubt it. Gone are the days of officer friendly and "protect and serve" today it's about production and the ego of the uniform.

    ReplyDelete