Houston Police Chief Charles A. McClelland, Jr., in partnership with Harris County District Attorney Patricia Lykos, unveiled the first of four new DWI processing centers at HPD patrol stations.
The equipment for the new center was provided by a grant from the Harris County D.A.’s Office. It allows officers to process DWI suspects more efficiently by being able to bring prisoners to the nearest station and then returning sooner to handle citizens’ calls for police service.
The new equipment is installed at the Midwest Patrol Station, as well as in the Westside, North and Northeast Patrol Stations. The centers will soon process prisoners and supplement the already existing DWI Processing Centers at the Southeast and Central Patrol Stations.
According to a release from the Harris County District Attorney’s office, this initiative affords the community several key benefits:
1. The proximity of the centers to the arrests is of immense importance. The closer in time to an arrest that testing is performed, the better the evidence. Should the test result reveal intoxication, the offender is booked into the command center, which quickly puts officers back on patrol. Currently, officers are out of service two to three hours transporting and booking defendants into the County jail.
2. Provides digital video and audio recording of the tests and transmits them in real time to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office. Currently, it takes months to convert video tape to discs and transport to the DAO. The trial delay clogs court dockets and denies justice.
3. All law enforcement agencies benefit from this project. Any law enforcement officer can take a suspected impaired driver to the centers for testing. The Department of Public Safety supervises the Intoxilyzers, thus facilitating a cooperative and integrated approach to maximizing resources. Reciprocally, HPD can take a suspect to Bellaire Police Department or Sheriff’s Office as the closest location for testing.
Criminals, not tax dollars, are funding this project. It was made possible by a $525,148 grant from the HCDAO Asset Forfeiture Fund, which is comprised of illicit assets seized from criminals and forfeited through court proceedings.
Click below to watch a video from HPD that shows how the new center will process individuals:
[ooyala code=”lydjR0NTq2rH-oX_ylgMrF3C99Z-L4cU”]
HPD Unveils New DWI Processing Center [Video] was originally published on news92fm.com
