Sheriff Reports on Holiday DUI Campaign Results

A press release from the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office:

Holiday Drunk Driving Traffic Safety Campaign Results

During the holiday season, the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office made it a top priority to reduce the deadly dangers from drunk drivers. Sheriff’s deputies were out in force to arrest those who put themselves and others on the road at risk because of intoxicated driving.

From December 19, 2014 to January 4, 2015, the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office made the following arrests / issued the following citations as part of this traffic campaign:

  • 2 DUI arrests
  • 3 Drug arrests
  • 3 Driving While License Suspended arrests
  • 3 No Valid Driver’s License
  • 20 No Insurance Citations
  • 93 Speeding Citations
Bill Prim

Bill Prim

“The bottom line is, if you have been drinking alcohol, you don’t belong behind the wheel. Never drink and drive,” said Sheriff Bill Prim.

“If you plan to drink, have a plan, have a designated driver so everyone can get safely home,” Sheriff Prim added.

The recent law enforcement crackdown was funded by federal traffic safety funds through the Illinois Department of Transportation and is part of the Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over and Click It or Ticket campaigns.


Comments

Sheriff Reports on Holiday DUI Campaign Results — 26 Comments

  1. 93 speeding citations and 2 DUI arrests.

    Apparently, speeding is 46.5 times as much a priority as drunk driving for the sheriff’s office.

    Judge them by their deeds, not their words.

  2. It looks like the McHenry drivers should slow down a bit. l.o.l.

    Drinking plus driving plus driving too fast = a potential disaster.

    Like the Sheriff said, If you want to party at least be responsible and have a plan for someone else to drive.

  3. Dear Sheriff Prim,

    I supported you. I was delighted you were elected as our new Sheriff. I met you and you seem to be a fine and honest man.

    One of the reasons I supported you was because the previous administrations failed the PEOPLE. The MCSO began to penalize its political enemies and reward their friends. This devolved into the MCSO mistrusting anyone in the county who was not a Sheriff’s “posse”.

    These “road side” interrogations that euphemistically are called “safety checks” are really just police bullying of its citizenry. The reality is, this is about generating money even if the police have to terrorize its people to do it. The result is the people begin to mistrust and fear of the police – something we desperately need to correct at this moment in history.

    These police invasions of our personal space (car), in my opinion, are violations of our 4th Amendment. I believe that you have to have probable cause to harass a citizen rather than just barging in to our personal space and demanding WE prove that we’re doing everything right.

    I know that most cops respond, “Driving is a privilege and not a right”; and that’s true. Giving us a speeding ticket is justified as it is noticed from outside our car. But to then invade our space, you violate our 4th Amendment right….when this is done at RANDOM, it is harassment. Why not barge into our houses and check there? Imagine the arrests that would made! That’s what these “road side checks” are really akin to.

    Please, Sheriff, be the ally of the people, not an ally of a financially failed and corrupt State that is now putting pressure on police to harass and shake down its citizenry. Illinois has failed. Don’t let their embarrassing failure pressure you to do something wrong to your citizens.

    My support for you in the next election will depend on your response.

  4. Not just a shake down, but at from a safety perspective amazingly dismal results.

    2 DUI arrests for a program targeting safety run for 2 weeks during the holiday season.

    The only thing more disappointing that the tactics used in this program are the very poor results from a safety perspective.

  5. Dismal results are good, butseriouslynow, it shows the people of McHenry County are obeying the law.

    This low count shows me that the officers are not harassing the citizens but at the same time doing their job.

  6. A new law took effect on Jan. 1 of this year that officers may not be subject to ticket quotas.

    BUT, as brought to the attention of the McHenry County Board last year by Evertsen, the law EXEMPTS state and federal law enforcement ‘grant’ programs.

    Sheriffs and Police ARE subject to quotas for almost every ‘holiday enforcement’ program funded by your taxpayer dollars in the guise of ‘grants’.

    I would like to see the Sheriff post results versus grant quota numbers.

  7. Oh Please you people……

    Police are not terrorizing us…….

    so what if they want to make money…….

    if you are stupid enough to drink and drive….speed….drive without insurance and no drivers license, with drugs, you deserve what you get.

    If you hate police so much, don’t call them next time someone hits you or breaks into your house.

    I saw a shirt that said “Police are here to SAVE your ass, not KISS it”

    I don’t care who the Sheriff is…stopping people for safety checks is NOT harassing.

    If you have nothing to hide…….you hide nothing….if the police want to come in my house………come on in !

    You don’t know what a SHAKEDOWN or REAL HARASSMENT is, if you think pulling over someone to check their license or seatbelt is a violation of your rights……

    if you wanna play you have to pay…..

    that’s life !

    Violins are playing because the police invaded your personal space..to save your ass or someone else’s…

    Whine about something REAL, like REAL terrorists….

    now there is something to complain about !

    Police are an ally of the people, next time you need one, you’ll find that out !

  8. Oh Ohs…will the once 100% Sheriff support group waiver over this DUI campaign? I

    see some flipping going on, or is it okay b/c of who the Sheriff is?

    DJH, your logic is flawed.

    You assume there must be an equal number of DUI and speeders on the road.

    That’s just plain silly.

    Obviously, on any given day (or night), speeders will outnumber DUI drivers…

    Skeptic, in order to get stopped–the deputy must have PC that you’ve done something (Terry Stop or violation…), so your premise that these officers are poaching the public on a whim is baseless.

    This is a simple premise I’ve mentioned before.

    Alcohol consumption is fine but over consumption of alcohol, then driving puts everyone else who shares the road with you at a very real, and ultimately avoidable, risk.

    It’s an easy context–but one too many folks misconstrue into a government over reach.

    I pay taxes and although I’m not a huge fan of a bloated government–I’d like mine to at least take reasonable measures to keep me and my family safe.

    If you’re going to over imbibe–get a ride, don’t drive.

    It’s that simple.

  9. You guys scare me.

    You are obviously cops with your own myopic views.

    Ok, so the police are at these “safety check” stations.

    “For the children’s safety”….right.

    Officer Smith checks out the first automatic pull over.

    He gets a ticket, arrest whatever.

    He’s Joe-blow.

    Then, officer Smith checks out the next car.

    Oh, that’s my girlfriends mom….she gets a pass.

    Then the next is the brother of the Sheriff; he’s drunk, but I can’t arrest him.

    The next is my brother’s best friend….ooops, this isn’t working so well.

    Oh, thank goodness, the next guy is a known Democrat.

    Busted !

  10. Happy Trails….don’t you understand that your argument is de facto self defeating?

    So, by your reasoning, since cops have the authority to protect you, there is no wrong they can do.

    That’s life.

    “If you want to play you have to pay”….I guess that means pay the police.

    That is by definition tyranny.

    If you don’t get it…..please tell me what police force you are on so I may stay away from your town.

    If the police are “on the side of the people”, why are the people starting to fear you in ever increasing numbers?

    Perhaps it’s because of experience with you guys?

    Just guessing.

  11. really? claims that I “assume there must be an equal number of DUI and speeders on the road.” Actually, no I assume no such thing.

    I merely point out that cops choose what they want to enforce.

    The press release claims that this was special enforcement intended to target drunk drivers.

    If indeed that was the intent, the actual numbers should skew a WHOLE LOT differently. Two DUI arrests in 17 days is pathetic.

    Ninety-three speeding citations lead me to believe this is really about revenue, not safety.

  12. Skeptic is absolutely right on the money, here.

    I would sign that letter to the sheriff, myself.

    The people that don’t get it, are the ones that are happy to give their rights away thinking they will find themselves “safer” in the end.

    This type of thinking (ie. Happy Trails moronic thinking is how you lose your freedoms inch by inch)that will be the end of us all.

    I for one, do not trust anyone else to make my judgement calls.

    I submit to no authority but the Almighty, Himself on what is proper or not.

    Elsewhere on the internet these days, people that think like Happy Trails, really?

    and voter are called sheeple.

  13. and you Cindy are what people in this world don’t need.

    Your thinking on many subjects o nthis blog shows your unstable mind.

    If you don’t think you have any freedom living here then try moving to Iran.

  14. Voter…..that’s your best argument?

    That’s it?

    You just call me the idiot.

    Wow.

    You have to be a cop.

    You guys have gotten so used to the law becoming whatever you believe it to be at the moment – that you are now presuming that such power extends to simple debate.

    Free speech is next, I guess.

  15. and I also have free speech Skeptic and for you Cindy I can prove all your delusional talk.

    My opinion, my free speech.

  16. Skeptic, I am a cop and I have not hidden that on this blog.

    Do you have any idea of how many times the “cops” give passes to people who break the law?

    If I saw a driver who had back up lights that didn’t work, could I give them a ticket, yes, would I, no, I would tell them to get them fixed so they wouldn’t get rear ended.

    How many times do people talk on phones, would I ticket them, no, I would tell them to pull over and talk and I could go on with examples.

    I don’t harass people.

    There are many ways to enforce the law but if I stopped a drunk behind the wheel you better believe they would be arrested to protect all you people who like to bash a cop.

  17. Be aware that the Supreme Court has ruled that police are NOT here to SERVE and PROTECT.

    The Police serve one purpose, based on this ruling – LAW ENFORCEMENT.

    Have you seen a police car in the U.S. with the slogan ‘serve and protect’ recently?

    Do some officers serve?

    Absolutely, but it is NOT their number one duty.

    Do some officers go overboard on enforcement?
    Absolutely.

    I agree with ‘skeptic’, there a few posts in this string that are scary.

    It is the attitude displayed by people such as “Happy Trails to You” that resulted in the Patriot Act and the phenomenal rise in ‘no knock’ raids which have resulted in the death of innocent bystanders.

    This activity is not one I would expect in a Constitutional Republic.

    Such activity is prevalent in communist nations and countries ruled by dictators.

    If you support such activity, please move to one of those countries – I do not want you voting in my country.

  18. Skeptic and Cindy, I know you understand the others who are posting here.

    Your own comments are sensible and well-written.

    The sheeple don’t like them, of course.

    Only two DUIs in that two-week enforcement period?

    One deputy should have been able to write two DUIs in one shift!

    How much money in grants did MCSD suck up and then pay out?

    Were deputies on regular pay or over-time?

    Who got the over-time?

    Just how much is over-time pay, per-hour, for the higher-ranking and longer-service deputies who get the over-time?

  19. It is pretty sad when the people that are supposed to be doing a “job” for the people get a thrill out of attacking the very people that actually PAY THEIR WAGES!

    And, yes, it is a job.

    No matter how you try to glorify your position of power over the little people – it is a JOB!

    You can post all the stupid comments you want and you will garner no more respect than you actually deserve.

    You, by your limited grasp of reality are actually making a pretty bad situation much worse.

  20. voter, you seem like a fair guy and a good cop.

    You are obviously biased in favor of police, but I would be too if I were an officer.

    The reality is, you guys have a very tough job.

    It must be very tough to make calls that affect peoples lives dramatically…..and you have to do so in a split second sometimes.

    Without police, society crumbles.

    For that reason alone, I applaud you and all hard working police officers working every day to keep society safe.

    MOST police officers are good people.

    No question.

    But what happened in 2010, when the MCSO working in concert with the CLPD, where so many police officers were working very hard to intentionally destroy peoples lives was unconscionable.

    You had leaders of departments – not making split second decisions in the field – but calculated moves, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars, creating phony evidence, lying under oath, releasing Grand Jury testimony, trumping up charges, out right scandal, deceit, and fraud, …. all with the intention of taking down a States Attorney and many other good people.

    Not one police department in the county protested.

    The papers are at the mercy of PDs press releases and so they played along like lap dogs.

    The police played them like a fiddle.

    They’re broke so they can’t give objective news anymore.

    The type of scum cops responsible for that atrocity are the thugs you should blame for an ever increasing loss of trust that the honest good cop loses.

    You know their names.

    It’s a shame that not one police department protested against the MCSO or the CLPD for their reprehensible, unethical, calculated and costly witch hunt.

    The local politician silence was typical of their lack of integrity.

    The PDs are equally to blame, however.

  21. Now Skeptic, I agree with your posting 100%.

    That is exactly why the citizens have to stop these BAD cops.

    The good cops know who the bad ones are and believe me when I say they are trying to get them out too.

    We don’t like the John Wayne, power hungry, bullying cop.

    That is not who we are.

    That is not what we want to accomplish as being cops.

    So sorry when the good cops become defensive as the bad apples are controlled by politicians and their own egos.

    The 2010 incident should never have happened !!!!!!!!!!

    People have to start taking these people to Federal court not the courts and judges locally who look the other way.

    I don’t really know the answer but the good cops will continue to be good.

    Thank God we at least have a new Sheriff who is not political and will change some things within that department.

    Now the other departments have to get out their bad apples.

  22. ummm….Voter?

    You really think that because a County wide program only caught 2 drunk drivers in the 2 weeks around Christmas and New Years that must mean that all were following the law?

    A single officer on New Years Eve and New Years day should be able to get 2 drunk drivers off the street if assigned to that specific task for a full shift.

    I am a big fan of Law enforcement officers, however it is just plain silly for a politician to brag about a two+ week holiday crackdown that got 2 drunks off the road while targeting them specifically. To brag that you used extra taxpayer money for that result is just not impressive.

    It is a political press release being cheered on by political fans.

    I mean really 2+ weeks of extra taxpayer money aimed at Drunk Drivers during the holidays with 2 taken off the street?

    Isn’t that only one more DUI’s than County Board members have got in the last month or so?

  23. Hmmmm, where did you read that anyone or department was bragging?

    Transparency is reporting the outcome of this event. So what politician was bragging?

    Also where did you read it cost taxpayers any extra money?

    All I can say is you can’t please everyone.

    If cops write too many tickets then it is harassment, if you find they didn’t write a lot of tickets you shout, not doing their job and spending extra money?

    What do you people want? l.o.l.

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