APD officers on DWI patrol

AUSTIN (KXAN) - The Austin Police Department is patrolling for drunk drivers this holiday weekend.

The department has a special DWI enforcement team that patrols city wide looking for intoxicated drivers. Officer Rob Gilbert is a three-year veteran of the team and typically focuses on the Downtown area.

"There is a lot of alcohol in this town," he said.

In a four hour period Thursday night, Officer Gilbert pulled over six drivers and performed several field sobriety tests, but only one driver was arrested.

"Just because I have somebody take the test, does not mean they're going to jail," he said. "My job is just to make sure they're safe to drive."

The DWI enforcement team is designed to cut down on the number of drunk drivers in Austin. Two teams of seven officers patrol from 7:30 pm. to 5:30 am., but some of those officers wish they could do more.

"You could have every officer in the city doing nothing but DWIs and they'd still be busy," said Officer Gilbert. "Our unit is having to field other responsibilities- having to take 2 or 3 other officers a night off the streets to do other things."

The DWI team is now staffing the B.A.T bus parked at Riverside and South Congress, which was once staffed by civilians. The B.A.T bus is a mobile processing center where DWI suspects are taken for a breathalyzer test if they consent. From there, they are transported to jail.

"I'm not going to tell people not to drink- I mean, that's not realistic. And I'd be a hypocrite if I told people not to drink - I drink," said Officer Roberts. "Just have a plan. Do it responsibly."

The Labor Day holiday weekend is a no refusal weekend for APD, which means police can automatically get a search warrant to draw a drivers blood if they suspect you've been drinking and driving, even if you refuse a breath test.