Saturation Patrols

Summary

Impaired driving is one of the most serious traffic risks facing the United States, killing thousands every year. Impaired driving demands police, legislative and community attention because of the potential harms it causes. Many of the problems associated with drug-impaired driving are similar to those associated with drunk driving. However, recent evidence suggests that the prevalence of drug-impaired driving may be equal to, or perhaps higher, than drunk driving. Periodic high-intensity and high-visibility enforcement efforts on a sustained basis, supported by coordinated media advocacy, are proven effective countermeasures for reducing impaired- driving fatalities. This strategy includes the following options:

Saturation Patrols

A saturation patrol is a concentrated enforcement effort that focuses efforts on identifying impaired drivers by observing moving violations such as reckless driving, speeding and aggressive driving among other things. A saturation patrol is generally spread over a larger geographic area.

The primary focus for officers during these patrols is to find impaired drivers by observing changes in driving behaviors, while also looking out for any traffic violations by motorists. The behaviors most often assessed are: lane deviation, following too closely, reckless or aggressive driving and/or speeding. The intention of this heavier police presence is to increase motorists’ perception that enforcement efforts are addressing those driving impaired. Saturation patrols take place in all 50 states, and do not present many legal issues beyond those associated with routine traffic stops. These blanket patrols are viewed by some as the most effective method of apprehending impaired drivers.

Roving Patrols

A less-intensive strategy is the “roving patrol” in which individual patrol officers concentrate on detecting and arresting impaired drivers in an area where impaired driving is common or where drug-involved crashes have occurred.

The main costs for these options include law enforcement time and publicity. Patrol operations are quite flexible in both the number of officers required and the time that each officer participates in the patrol. Patrols should be highly visible and publicized extensively to be effective in deterring impaired driving. Communication and enforcement plans should be coordinated. Messages should clearly and unambiguously support enforcement. Paid media may be necessary to complement news stories and other earned media, especially in a continuing saturation patrol program.

Core Components

Dosage/Frequency

Saturation patrols should be implemented at least three times throughout the contract year and should occur in areas of concern in the community based on law enforcement data.

Required Key Steps

In collaboration with the coalition and community partners, complete the following:

• Review the problem of impaired driving in the community.
  • Review data to understand where the issues are occurring.
  • Consider asking questions in the Understanding Your Local Problem resource.
• Meet with law enforcement to identify support of the strategy and to discuss the following:
  • Dosage and frequency expectations as well as grant expectations.
    • Law enforcement agencies may not be familiar with grant expectations so it is important to make those clear from the start of the project and discuss to see if law enforcement can commit to those expectations.
  • Discuss costs per program. Explain that these programs are grant funded and agree on a cost that can be sustainable within the project funding throughout the rest of the grant.
• Ask if there is a formally written protocol for conducting saturation patrols
• If there is no formally written plan, ensure a detailed checkpoint and saturation patrol protocol is created with law enforcement input and approval (include details listed below).

Discuss barriers of implementing saturation patrols with local law enforcement agencies.

• Some barriers can include reduced budgets, lack of hours dedicated to enforcement, lack of equipment and a lack of community support for enforcement efforts.
• Discuss how the project can assist with these needs (any resources purchased should be connected to strategy support).
• Consider community support for law enforcement efforts. If support is low, identify ways to increase support through the coalition.

Saturation Patrols

• Create an operations plan for saturation patrols implementation including:
• Locations and dates/times for the patrols.
• Consider time of day the operations are scheduled which includes times when drug impaired driving may happen more frequently.
• Needs for staffing the patrols.
• Promotion of each patrol in the community before it occurs.
  • Saturation patrols should be highly visible and publicized extensively to be effective in deterring impaired driving.
  • Communication and enforcement plans should be coordinated.
  • Messages should clearly and unambiguously support enforcement.
  • Paid media may be necessary to complement news stories and other earned media, especially in a continuing saturation patrol program.

Capacity Building

Create a capacity building plan to continually engage strategy stakeholders. Some ideas include:

• Community support for law enforcement efforts is an important component to consider. If support is low, identify ways to increase support through the coalition.
• Create a report on strategy outcomes to share with community stakeholders.
• Regularly (at least quarterly) meet with law enforcement agencies to review progress, discuss challenges and remind about grant expectations.
• Invite law enforcement officers involved in these enforcement efforts to present on the strategy at community events or community meetings.
• Recruit a law enforcement officer involved in the strategy to serve on the coalition or help be a champion for the strategy in the community.

Implementation Materials

Drug Impaired Driving
Drug Impaired Driving Overview
High Visibility Enforcement Toolkit
Saturation Patrol Information

References

Hingson, R., & Sleet, D. A. (2006). Modifying alcohol use to reduce motor vehicle injury. In Gielen, A. C., Sleet, D. A. & DiClemente, R. (Eds), Injury and violence prevention: Behavior change theories, methods, and applications (pp. 234-256). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Shults, R. A., Elder, R. W., Nichols, J. L., Sleet, D. A., Compton, R., & Chattopadhyay, S. K. (2009). Effectiveness of multicomponent programs with community mobilization for reducing alcohol-impaired driving. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 37(4), 360–371. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2009.07.005