MADD recognizes Darlington Police Department’s efforts

A three-peat apparently just wasn’t enough for the Darlington Police Department.

After being the recipient of the DUI Heroes Award for three years in a row, the agency has received the award for a fourth year, Darlington Police Capt. Danny Watson said.

The Heroes Award is presented annually by Mothers Against Drunk Driving and the S.C. Department of Public Safety to a law enforcement agency for its notable enforcement efforts.

The Darlington Police Department received the award for having the most driving under the influence arrests among agencies its size in the state.

“We arrested 98 people last year for driving under the influence,” Watson said. “We are out there to protect the public. What we need to do as law enforcement officers is to be hyper-vigilant.”

Officers aren’t only on the lookout for drivers who are intoxicated by alcohol, but also for those who are under the influence of prescription drugs.

“It’s not just the people who are driving drunk, it’s the people who are taking medications,” Watson said. “It’s says right there on the bottle you shouldn’t drive when taking this medication. That’s what driving under the influence is.”

The most dangerous people who drive on the roads aren’t the people who are obviously intoxicated, he said. Rather, it’s the people who think they aren’t impaired.

“It’s not the guy who’s drunk and who’s dancing around with a lampshade on his head. He doesn’t have the dexterity to get into the car,” Watson said. “It’s the people who have just enough to think they are OK.”

As far as enforcement of DUI laws, the primary concern of the law enforcement officers is to take an impaired person off the street immediately, he said.

From that moment on, law enforcement officers have little to do with what happens to that person in the court of law.

“Notice I said we had 98 DUI arrests; we didn’t have 98 convictions,” Watson said. “It’s very hard to get a jury to convict a person of DUI.”

Some residents sympathize with the suspect because they’ve been in a similar situation, while others think it’s that person’s business if he or she wants to drive impaired, he said.

Furthermore, the state’s DUI laws are complicated and seem to change yearly, Watson said.

“We are just enforcers of the law. If we are keeping people safe, then we are doing our job,” he said.