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Michigan in need for more cops as drunk driving arrests drop
New Michigan State Police data says drunk driving arrests have been on the decline, falling 4% in 2024 and nearly 30% since 2014. Officials say there are not enough cops to make all the stops.
DETROIT (FOX 2) - Drivers are bound to see more police on the road, stepping up patrols this holiday weekend, looking for drunk drivers during the Fourth of July weekend.
By the numbers:
New Michigan State Police data says drunk driving arrests have been on the decline, falling 4% in 2024 and nearly 30% since 2014.
Officials say there are not enough police to make all the stops.
Jim Tignanelli is president of the Police Officers Association of Michigan. He says it also doesn’t help that DUI stops tend to be time-consuming.
"We have mandated overtime on almost every shift in all our departments, so these guys are working 100 hours a pay period, every two weeks, and because of that, you have fewer people on the road," said Tignanelli.
The limited number of officers available are also busy handling other calls.
"They’re answering runs, police runs, and block parties and fireworks and whatever else goes on—domestic violence, so they don’t have that much manpower to do traffic," said retired officer Steve Dolunt.
That means the top brass have to get creative to add more manpower, especially for the holidays.
"Well, you’re going to take all your community relations officers and put them out on the street over the weekend," said Dolunt. "You’ll probably get administrative people out on the street. You’ll have a higher visibility, but some people don’t care. Like, they’re not going to stop me."
What's next:
State lawmakers are also working on legislation that would allow police to test drivers for drugs in their system, but that too would require fixing the manpower shortage.
There’s another set of bills in Lansing for that issue too.