Big game day rakes in 18 DWI arrests

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Austin police arrested 18 people during the no-refusal period on Super Bowl Sunday - the second time police have launched the initiative on the big game day.

The initiative - intended to discourage drinking and driving - meant officers out enforcing the No Refusal Blood Draw campaign from 9 p.m. Sunday until 5 a.m. Monday. It also meant police were allowed to request a warrant to draw a suspect's blood if the suspect refuses a breathalizer.

In all, Super Bowl Sunday numbers yielded the following:

• Seven blood search warrants
• 10 voluntary breath tests
• One is still under investigation by the Vehicular Homide Unit

Austin police officials said they knew a lot of people would be out at bars or Super Bowl parties where alcohol would probably be consumed.

From the No-Refusal DWI crackdowns in the past, there were::

• 21 arrests on last Super Bowl Sunday
• 54 arrests on Halloween 2009 weekend
• 24 on New Year's Day 2010

The DWI initiative allows officers to conduct blood search warrants on suspects who refuse to give a breath or blood specimen as required by law, which went into effect on Sept. 1, 2009. The law was created to enforce DWI laws and keep the public safe.

Police made a high number of DWI arrests in Austin last year. While about 25 percent of 2008 traffic fatalities were alcohol-related, that number went up to about half of last year's traffic fatalities.

APD conducted the first No-Refusal initiative on Halloween 2008.

Austin Police Department Chief Art Acevedo said he wants the police department's own phlebotomists or individuals trained to draw blood at the jail, since hospitals are now turning suspects away or charging the department a significant amount of money to draw a suspect's blood.

And the APD proposal could go before the city council soon.