What do people think of this? Posting their pics and info online after they have been caught?
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-lidwi0528,0,4562374.storyNassau arrests 109 in DUI crackdown
Displaying photos from a "wall of shame" -- as County Executive Thomas Suozzi called the mug shots shown behind him -- Nassau officials announced yesterday that police had charged 81 people with driving while intoxicated during the extended Memorial Day weekend.
Another 28 motorists were cited for driving while impaired, a lesser offense.
Stepped up enforcement of intoxicated and impaired driving laws came after officials had promised that twice as many police as last year would patrol the county's roadways over the long holiday. Officials said the crash that nearly killed a Nassau police officer on the Long Island Expressway earlier this month was a motivator for the stepped up enforcement.
Sixteen of the arrests came after automobile crashes. One of the crashes resulted in serious injury.
The 109 arrests marked a 51 percent increase over roughly the same period last year, when 72 people were arrested, officials said.
And in what county officials called an unapologetic effort to shame those charged, the names and addresses of the suspects were itemized and distributed to the media; the mug shots of the 81 people charged with driving while intoxicated were to be posted on the county government's Web site, Suozzi and police said. Twenty-eight others were charged with driving while ability impaired -- a lesser offense for which a booking photo is not usually taken.
"If the fear of killing somebody," Suozzi explained, "or the fear of ruining your life by getting arrested or injuring yourself is not enough, we're going to try and add other techniques, like embarrassing you."
Of more than 1,300 cases the Nassau DA's office has prosecuted this year for driving while impaired and driving under the influence, said spokesman Eric Phillips, fewer than 10 defendants have been acquitted or had their cases dismissed. He said details about plea deals in those cases were not immediately available.
Drivers in New York State are considered impaired when their blood-alcohol content is between .06 and less than .08, or when a police officer makes the call in the field, said Nassau Police spokesman Det. Sgt. Anthony Repalone.
Drivers are legally intoxicated when their blood alcohol content is .08 or greater, Repalone said.
Officials with Mothers Against Drunk Driving have said there is no evidence to suggest shaming techniques deter drunken driving.
Meanwhile, Nassau Police Officer Kenneth Baribault, the police officer who had pulled over a suspected drunken driver on the Long Island Expressway in Plainview, only to be hit by a second driver suspected of being drunk, is "doing a little bit better," said Police Commissioner Lawrence Mulvey, adding that Baribault is almost breathing on his own.
Over the holiday weekend, at least seven of the 109 charged were repeat offenders and charged with felonies, authorities said. Most of the 109 were in their 20s, though the youngest arrestee was 17, and the oldest, 74.
The arrests were made starting just before midnight Thursday through about 5 a.m. yesterday. Suffolk police made 57 DWI arrests from about 3 p.m. Friday until 11:59 p.m. Monday.
Among the most serious cases in Nassau: Juan F. Cardoza, of Baldwin, who police said was driving westbound along Sunrise Highway in eastbound lanes; Eric J. Flores, of Kings Park, whose blood-alcohol level police said was three times the legal limit; Karen A. Armata, of East Meadow, who police said was driving drunk with her children aboard; and Samir Nayee of Winter Park, Fla., who police said had two previous arrests for drunken driving.
Depending on the circumstances of a case, punishments for the weekend arrests can range from a conditional discharge and a fine to a few days to a year in jail, Phillips said.
Some of the Mug shots & Myspaces:John Decurtis
I hope those are his kids...
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=366788469Raymond W. Trapani
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=13359173Beverly Torres
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=58890555Patrick Viviano
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=11222615Victor Oliveira
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=18794543Melissa L. Moher
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=156833284Nicholas S. Panico
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=10457593Tanya Karcic
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=9660193John Tsiknas
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=228603235
Poll
