DUI task force draws scrutiny

**pgg** · 12-25-10, 04:43 AM

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DUI task force tactics drawing scrutiny
Posted by Ted Appel in County on December 22nd, 2010 tags: checkpoints, Chouteau, DUI, police, public defender, Sonoma County, Superior Court
28 comments related articles

Santa Rosa Police Officer Ken Carstensen talks with a driver who was pulled over while driving on a suspended license during a Sonoma County court sting operation aimed at DUI and unlicensed drivers. Her car was towed. KENT PORTER/PD

By DEREK MOORE
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

The knock came a little more than 48 hours after a judge told William Beall that he would not have to go to jail immediately — or maybe at all — for his 19th conviction for DUI.

When the 65-year-old Oakmont real estate agent opened his door, he was greeted by several Santa Rosa police and Sonoma County probation officers, who earlier that evening had fanned out as members of a DUI task force. They demanded to know whether Beall had any alcohol in the house.

Beall knew such a visit was possible, given the terms of probation outlined by visiting Alameda County Judge Julie Conger last Thursday during Beall’s sentencing for his latest DUI offense. In exchange for his agreement to the conditions, Conger made the controversial decision to allow Beall to remain free until Jan. 21, when Beall was to learn whether he would serve that six-month sentence in jail or in a treatment facility.

But that was before the DUI task force made Beall a priority and knocked on his door Saturday night, leading ultimately to the Oakmont man being arrested again and taken back to jail, where he will remain at least until Monday on a no-bail hold while awaiting his fate on an alleged violation of probation for having booze in his home.

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On Tuesday, the task force conducted an undercover sting at the county courthouse in Santa Rosa to make sure people whose licenses were suspended or revoked did not drive away from their court appearances.

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Activists, however, decry sobriety checkpoints for mainly targeting unlicensed Latino drivers and not people who are driving drunk.

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**Standard Dave** · 12-25-10, 05:03 AM

I don't care what background someone has they should get a licence to drive

Drink drive, unlicenced and uninsured drivers cause more fatal and KSI collisions than other drivers they need to be removed from the roads.

**countybear** · 12-25-10, 06:31 AM

Emphasizing enforcement efforts does not make those efforts are oppressive or biased. The crime is disobeying law, and that is the common denominator, not race.

Don't drink and drive. Don't drive under suspension. No problems.

After 19 DUI's, someone might get the message that this individual is reckless, selfish, callous, and so flawed in his decision-making process that he cannot function in a free society.