The Harris County District
Attorney’s Office No Refusal
program, an effective tool in DWI
enforcement, has now been
extended to cover every weekend
for the next 3 years.
District Attorney Patricia Lykos
announced that the DAO received a
federal grant of almost $700,000 to
expand deployment for all Friday
and Saturday nights through 2013.
About 30 percent of deadly wrecks
involving alcohol happen on the
weekends.
“This grant means that every
weekend we will fight this crucial
war against intoxicated drivers and
their lethal legacy of crashes,” the
District Attorney said. Lykos
commended the cooperation from
area police agencies and other
organizations that attended the
Oct. 28 news conference on the
grant.
She noted that the DAO previousl
had been restricted to 11
weekends yearly.
continue article
Three Year
Grant Extends Anti-DWI Program)
The funding obtained through the
Texas Department of
Transportation and Houston-
Galveston Area Council, pays for
41 more weeks of No Refusal
operations each year.
In the No Refusal program,
motorists who are arrested for
DWI are given the opportunity for
breath testing. If they refuse, the
arresting police agencies and
prosecutors work together to
obtain search warrants. Those
allow blood samples to be drawn
from the drivers to determine
their levels of intoxication.
Catherine Evans, the Chief of the
DAO’s Vehicular Crimes Section,
said the blood draws can detect
other types of intoxicants and
have been instrumental in seeing
that justice is done in DWI cases.
Last year, there were 489
warrants issued in the No Refusal
program. In that period, 13,324
DWI-related charges were filed.
Joining with the DAO to
announce the grant were offic
from the Police Departments o
Houston, Pasadena and La Por
the Harris County Sheriff’s Offi
the Texas Alcoholic Beverage
Commission, and the Texas
Department of Public Safety.
Other officials were from
Mothers Against Drunk Driving
the Bay Area Council on Drugs
and Alcohol, and Houston-
Galveston Area Council.