Officers awarded for DUI efforts

By GINA KINSLOW

GLASGOW — An officer with the Munfordville Police Department was among those recognized statewide for making the streets of his city safer by arresting impaired drivers.

Patrolman David E. King was one of three law enforcement officers to receive a 2009 Governor’s Impaired Driving Enforcement Award for police agencies with a force of one to 10 officers.

King was recognized Wednesday along with 192 law enforcement officers from 170 police agencies statewide during a special ceremony in Lexington.

“Impaired driving is one of America’s most-often committed and deadliest crimes,” said Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo in a press release from the Kentucky Office of Highway Safety. “These officers, their departments and their agencies render a great service for public safety by removing these dangerous drivers from our roads.”

King received the award for making 51 out of 64 DUI arrests by the Munfordville Police Department last year.

“I was honored,” King said. “I was surprised that I actually made it as the division winner.”

King usually works nights and said that is when he sees impaired drivers the most.

“Just based on my work schedule at least 85 to 90 percent of the arrests I make at night, usually, after 11 p.m., are DUI arrests,” he said.

Many people associate the acronym DUI, which stands for Driving Under the Influence, with alcohol-related arrests. King said people arrested for DUI could also be under the influence of drugs.

“Probably the last five out of 11 DUI arrests I’ve made have been drug-based arrests for hydrocodone or marijuana,” he said.

King recently completed a drug recognition expert class to learn how to determine what type of drug a driver may have taken.

“It’s not something you can do on the side of the road,” King said.

Officers who are drug recognition experts go to jails or hospitals to evaluate impaired drivers using a 12-step process. They take into consideration a person’s body temperature, pulse rate and blood pressure in making the evaluation, among other things, he said.

Greg Atwell, Munfordville police chief, said he was proud of King.

King has been with the police department for two years.

Although King was the only local officer to receive a statewide award, several other law enforcement officials in the area were honored for the work they do within their own departments citing individuals who are driving while intoxicated.

Deputy Adam Minor with the Barren County Sheriff’s Department was also recognized. Minor conducted 31 out of 58 DUI arrests made by the sheriff’s department.

“This is the second year in a row that he’s won the award. It’s just an honor to have someone of his caliber employed here in the sheriff’s office and I hope the citizens appreciate the job he does for them to get the impaired drivers off the roadway,” said Sheriff Chris Eaton.

Patrolman Larry Dale Martin with the Glasgow Police Department was also honored during the award ceremony. Martin made 41 out of 185 DUI arrests.

“We’re always very appreciative to officers who take impaired drivers off the road,” said Glasgow Police Chief Horace Johnson.

Patrolman James Skaggs with the Cave City Police Department also received an award. Skaggs made 11 out of 34 DUI arrests.

“I think he does an outstanding job,” said Cave City Police Chief Billy Minton.

In Kentucky, more than 5,000 alcohol-related crashes resulted in 160 deaths and more than 2,700 injuries in 2008. Across the country, more than 13,000 people are killed each year in highway crashes involving a driver or motorcycle operator with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 or higher, the press release said.

“Our law enforcement is making a difference, as our alcohol-related fatalities decreased last year compared to 2007,” said acting transportation secretary Mike Hancock in the press release. “However, there is still a great deal of work to be done. One fatality is too many.”

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