Battles Well Fought Against Drunken Driving
Police, Sheriff's Personnel Honored for Enforcement Efforts, as Governor Notes 'a Lot of Work' to Be Done

By Tom Jackman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, December 13, 2007

The statistics on drunken driving can be, well, sobering. But there are also what one police official called "untold statistics": the lives that are saved when a police officer takes a drunk driver off the road.

Last week, seven Northern Virginia police officers were among those honored by the Washington Regional Alcohol Program for their work targeting drunk drivers.

That work was analyzed by George Pakidis of Arlington Red Top Cab, a WRAP board member, who noted that nearly 15,000 drunk drivers were arrested in the Washington area last year, more than the combined populations of Falls Church and Chevy Chase.

That's an arrest rate of about 41 people per day. "That's 41 potential killers stopped before they get the chance to kill," Pakidis said, "by the men and women here today."

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) also spoke at Friday's reception at Tysons Corner, which marked the 25th anniversary of WRAP's founding as a group devoted to fighting drunken driving. "WRAP has done a great job," Kaine said, "and recognizing those in the law enforcement community who have stepped forward [to battle drunken driving] is a great idea."

Kaine noted that statewide in Virginia, there were 135 fewer alcohol-related fatalities from Jan. 1 through mid-November than during the same period in 2006, a 40 percent decrease. But "oddly enough," Kaine said, the total number of fatal crashes in the commonwealth was at 951 and on pace to top 1,000 for this year, the highest annual total since the 1990s.

(Half of all traffic fatalities on Christmas Day are alcohol-related, according to WRAP statistics, and 70 percent of all fatalities on New Year's Day are alcohol-related.)

"We've got a lot of work to do," Kaine said, "and WRAP is a critical part of it."

Former D.C. police lieutenant Pamela Simms, whose police officer husband was killed by a drunk driver in 1996, helped present the awards to 14 area officers who have made drunken driving a specialty. Half of the officers were from Northern Virginia:

¿ Officer Mark Morgan of the Alexandria Police Department worked nearly all of his city's mobile DWI patrols over the past five years, obtaining 80 DWI convictions, as well as arresting multiple suspects on felony charges while handling aggressive-driving assignments.

¿ Sgt. Wayne Vincent of the Arlington County Police Department manages all aspects of the county's DWI enforcement in addition to working as a midnight shift supervisor. This year, Arlington has made 143 DWI arrests attributed to the impaired-driving program overseen by Vincent, and Arlington's DWI arrests have risen nearly 20 percent since 2004.

¿ Officer Patrick Nolan of the Fairfax County Police Department made 42 DWI arrests in 2006 and holds the county record for most arrests of underage drivers who have been drinking, often called "baby DWI," zero-tolerance charges. Nolan also regularly volunteers for sobriety checkpoints and for Fairfax's Safe December squad dedicated to holiday DWI prevention.

¿ Deputies Wade Phillips and Anthony Cooper from the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office. Phillips, who has made 22 DWI arrests and issued 155 traffic citations this year, has also been honored by the Northern Virginia Mothers Against Drunk Driving chapter for four years and won a WRAP award in 2005.

Cooper, who received a Lifesaving Award in 2006, has made 19 DWI arrests this year, as well as 35 felony arrests, and has issued 224 traffic citations.

¿ Officer Edward McDermott of the Prince William County Police Department made 70 drunken-driving arrests in the first nine months of this year. He works the midnight shift in Woodbridge and was honored by WRAP for the second straight year.

¿ Trooper Michael Middleton of the Virginia State Police made news this month by making back-to-back drunken-driving arrests on Route 7 in Loudoun County. He had stopped one drunk driver and was sitting in his patrol car when another drunk driver slammed into him. Middleton was not seriously hurt.

Middleton had made 49 DWI arrests before that double arrest and written 32 tickets for reckless driving and 246 for speeding. He also made arrests involving 15 felony and 22 misdemeanor charges.

The leaders of nearly every police department of the honored officers attended the reception. Loudoun Sheriff Stephen O. Simpson (I) said he had been attending the reception for years. "I think it's important to not only support the program," he said, "but support the men and women who receive awards for their contribution and dedication to making our community safer."

Numerous local businesses donated door prizes for the reception, and Anheuser-Busch gave $40,000 to help fund the SoberRide campaign of free cab rides for those who are inebriated during the holiday season. Arlington Police Chief M. Douglas Scott said he thought the partnership of businesses, law enforcement and WRAP was "really important in helping to keep the roads safe."