Austin DWI. Following the implementation of the March 24 stay-at-home order in both Travis County and the city of Austin as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, current Austin crime statistics reveal that drunk driving arrests have decreased by approximately 43% in the first month since the order was put into effect, compared with the exact same period back in the year 2019.
According to a detective with the DWI Enforcement Unit, Michael Jennings, this kind of change was anticipated. However, perhaps the biggest surprise was that the overall arrest numbers were lower but not as low as anticipated in terms of DWI. His statement below:
“We have a little over half of the same amount of arrests this time of year. When [the stay-home order] went in place, I expected more of a drop. It’s actually sad that we’re seeing what we [would have seen in years past], even having lost [events like]…South by Southwest, Rodeo Austin, a lot of the spring break activities…[those events] normally drive the DWIs.”
For example, the Austin Police Department made a total of 317 DWI arrests from March 24, 2019 to April 19, 2019. During that same exact time period this year, the arrest number was 181, with the following offenses included:
- DWI
- Second DWI
- DWI with a blood-alcohol content over 0.15%
- DWI with a child passenger
- DWI with two or more previous charges
The detective had the following further comments to make:
“When this first kicked off, we wanted to see what was going to happen. As we saw – even with the driving down – still intoxicated drivers coming, so we decided to leave the no-refusal weekend initiative in place. It’s definitely a good thing that the numbers are down. I’ve always said that if [people] said, ‘Look, there aren’t enough DWIs to justify what we’re doing,’ then that’s exactly what we set out to do. We’d like to see nothing. But unfortunately it is still something that’s going on.”
As part of the no-refusal period, judges will make themselves available in order to approve warrants for blood-alcohol samples from those individuals who have been suspected of driving drunk, even if the drivers themselves refuse to have their blood drawn voluntarily.
The city of Austin, however, is not the only location to see a decrease in DWIs. In fact, other cities across the country have also reported a significant decrease in this type of offense ever since their own respective stay-at-home orders were issued. These cities include the following:
- El Paso, Texas
- Albuquerque, New Mexico
- Winston and Salem, North Carolina
Despite the decreased numbers, it is expected that this may not last long due to Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s plan to slowly reopen the state in phases that began May 1st. Which in turn, will encourage more drivers to get back on the roads.
The detective continued his comments by stating the following:
“We would like to see [DWI arrest numbers] continue to decrease…But with cabin fever built up, I do think – especially with schools starting to come to an end, and everybody didn’t have a good shot at spring break – so it would not surprise us if we start to see an increase. That’s never our hope, but that’s a reality of what we see a lot of times.”
Austin DWI. Although government officials and law enforcement hoped for zero DWI arrests during the stay-at-home order, there were unfortunately still many arrests. On the bright side, the stay-at-home order did decrease DWI arrests by about 43%. However, law enforcement predicts as the city begins to open back up – drunk driving arrests will positively correlate. We can only hope that these arrests will continue to stay lower than in past years.