Confused in California

[JPR]

Confused in California

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Last night, we were driving across the state to move our son into his new college residence. We came upon an obviously impaired driver. In the past, on trips to our vacation home, we have seen community service announcements on the road asking people to report drunk drivers. In the past we have called 911 when we saw impaired drivers and received the same response as we did last night. We do not understand why our calls were handled the way they were.

The following is what transpired last night and is virtually identical to the other aforementioned incidents.

We came up on a car in the slow lane going slower than the flow. As I was preparing to pass the car, it slowly drifted to the left as if changing lanes but came back right after running over the reflectors on the roadway. As I have seen this before, I decided to stay back and watch a while to see what was what. We watched the car continually drift slowly from left to right in the lane crossing over the shoulder line on the right and the reflector lane markers on the left. The speed remained somewhat constant but was slower than the traffic flow unlike prior encounters in which I noticed the speed varying up and down.. I called 911, reported an apparent impaired driver, our location and heading, and gave them the color, make and model of the car. Like times in the past, they simply thanked me and told me they would notify their officers. About 5 miles further down the road, the car caused another car which was overtaking it to brake and swerve when it drifted over to the right as the passing car was exiting onto a freeway connector.

I called 911 again and updated them with this info. along with our current location and heading. This time the dispatcher asked if I had a lic. number.
I slowly inched forward enough to get the plate number and relayed it to the dispatcher. I asked the dispatcher if they wanted me to stay on the line and he told me no. He too thanked me and said he would notify officers. Lastly, about an additional 7-8 miles later, we are approaching a town. The guy now exits the freeway onto what looked like a major boulevard. I called a third time to relay this information. At first I spoke with the same guy I had spoken with the second time (last time). I told him the name of the street the guy exited onto. He transferred me to that city's 911 operator. I gave her the street name of the offramp and heading along with the make and model. I told her to refer to the CHP dispatcher for the plate number as I did not write it down. She asked me why I thought the driver was impaired so I told her the observations I listed above. She asked me why I followed him so far instead of just passing him. I told her I was concerned about passing him because there were only two lanes, I was pulling a trailer, and I didn't want to risk him drifting into my SUV or trailer while attempting a pass. I then told her that I only called to help. In the past I have seen signs asking for this type of help. Now that the guy is off the freeway, I am down the freeway and continuing my journey. I wished her good luck and told her I hope no one gets hurt. She thanked me and hung up.

My wife and I are wondering why the operators don't want to stay on the line to keep tabs of the whereabouts of these drivers when we call? If they really want to stop drunk drivers, isn't this information needed? We are confused.:confused:

[COASTIE01]

It was a weekend night and although drunk driving is important, and dangerous, officer and dispatchers must prioritize what is happening. I am sure your call was not disregarded. It is likely the CHP simply did not have enough dispatchers available to stay on the line with you. I hope this response helps.

[JPR]

It was a weekend night and although drunk driving is important, and dangerous, officer and dispatchers must prioritize what is happening. I am sure your call was not disregarded. It is likely the CHP simply did not have enough dispatchers available to stay on the line with you. I hope this response helps.

Thanks for the reply......It sounds logical......but as many times as it's happened.....(3-4)....I don't know....I think I still hold a little mystery.:confused:

[UH60RAT]

Coastie pretty much summed it up. We get these calls a lot in our city. On a really busy night (weekends) we do our best to try and locate these drivers but there are times when we just don't have units in the area available to respond because they are handling higher priority calls (ie. violent crimes)

Our air unit will handle these calls when ground units are tied up and they are usually successful in locating the vehicle in question. The air unit will follow the vehicle until a ground unit is able to make the stop, or it leaves the city and they will notify the neighboring agency.

This is a perfect example of why citizens need to push the powers that be to hire more officers for their city or state. Most agencies are suffering from shortages in man power and I can't think of anyone who doesn't want more cops out on the street, well except for the bad guys!

Be safe

[SgtCHP]

9-1-1 is an EMERGENCY phone number. There are just so many connections that can be on the line at one time. If you are reporting an impaired driver, that is not really an emergency - it may be urgent - but, it is not classified as an emergency. You may call another number which is advertised throughout the state - 1-800-TELL-CHP. That is a non-emergency line.

To further address your concern: The motoring public was hampered with the 9-1-1 system when they were on cell phones. Until recently, all cell phone 9-1-1 calls went directly to the CHP - within California - even if you were within a city. There has recently been a renovation of the system which permits those types of calls to be routed through the local agency. Ergo: you were switched to the city where the DUI vehicle exited.

I applaud your concerns and ask that you continue with your reporting. The only essential information the CHP needs is a description of the vehicle, license number, if possible, route and direction of travel.

Do not expose yourself to possible incidents involving the impaired driver. If you are hesitant to pass, then, by all means, maintain a safe distance. If there is an accident, stop and render aid, offer your witness statement to the officers and continue on your way.

Believe it or not, crossing the State of California on the interstates can be exciting, but there may only be three or four CHP units assigned to patrol that great expanse of roadway across the state. Don't be alarmed if they do not appear within moments of your phone call.

Thank you for your question(s). I hope my reply is helpful.

[hankido2000]

This Labor Day I was driving east bound on the 10 from the north bound 405 when I noticed a car with five young males with shaved/short hair inside. I happened to look over just as the driver raised a brown bottle to take a drink (the driver was also driving erratically, swerving in and out of traffic). I figured it was a beer bottle so called 911. The dispatcher took the information (make, model, plate, direction of travel, etc.) and seemed pretty serious about it. I continued on my way, not really thinking much of the report. A couple of minutes later the phone rang -- it was the CHP dispatcher. They asked if I could see the car still (I could) and then asked me to follow at a safe distance and to put on my hazard lights. The dispatcher was still on the line and relying information to a CHP units that were attempting to catch up to the vehicle. She told me not to turn off the hazard lights until instructed to do so. The traffic was extremely heavy and I wasn't able to maintain visual contact with the vehicle (plus people were flashing us because of the hazard lights). I could not see the vehicle after Vermont. Later that night, around 11 PM, the phone rang, and again it was the CHP calling to get additional information. The officer who called was from the station downtown -- he told us that they had caught the vehicle around Vermont and that five people were arrested -- they had indeed been under the influence. The officer said he needed to contact us for additional information and to tell us that we might be subpoenaed if this case goes to trial. He seemed surprised that I was able to spot the brown bottle the driver had been drinking -- I told him the brown bottle was a dead giveaway (unless it was cream soda). He laughed and thanked me for reporting the incident.

[Biz_mikee]

9-1-1 is an EMERGENCY phone number. There are just so many connections that can be on the line at one time. If you are reporting an impaired driver, that is not really an emergency - it may be urgent - but, it is not classified as an emergency. You may call another number which is advertised throughout the state - 1-800-TELL-CHP. That is a non-emergency line.



Thanks Sgt CHP. Ive searched google and the CA website trying to look for a non-emergency CHP number.

[hankido2000]

Good to know. I've never heard of this non-emergency number before.

[willowdared]

Coming from the dispatch side......we always appreciate when someone is following a DUI driver, and can update location.

What we don't want to do, is put you at risk. Sometimes, there is no unit in position to respond. Or, they are tied up on another call, and there is no one to break.

Having a description of the car, and especially the plate, means we can BOL the vehicle. Having the plate gives us the owners address, and I have had units go to their house and wait for a DUI driver to get home. :)

[JPR]

Thanks for your replies. I think I now understand why we had the experiences we had. I will continue to call 911 whenever I see a clear and present danger of carnage. I respectfully but strongly disagree that it is not an emergency when a driver is weaving down the highway. If I didn't call 911 on that and later saw the car on the news involved in a fatal crash, I would have had a problem living with that. Far better to prevent carnage than investigate carnage IMHO. As far as being put at risk, I appreciate the concern, but outside of leaving the roadway, I can think of no safer place to be on the road with an impaired driver present than at their 6.

[willowdared]

Thanks for your replies. I think I now understand why we had the experiences we had. I will continue to call 911 whenever I see a clear and present danger of carnage. I respectfully but strongly disagree that it is not an emergency when a driver is weaving down the highway. If I didn't call 911 on that and later saw the car on the news involved in a fatal crash, I would have had a problem living with that. Far better to prevent carnage than investigate carnage IMHO. As far as being put at risk, I appreciate the concern, but outside of leaving the roadway, I can think of no safer place to be on the road with an impaired driver present than at their 6.

Try to remember, that the non-emergency number goes thru to the same agency. The non-emergecy numbers are routed thru different lines then 911, and when there is sufficiant staffing, there are people assigned specifically to answer 911 only calls. You will accomplish the same goal, without tying up the emergency line, and they may be more likely to keep you on the line if you are following a vehicle.

I actually call my own agency's non-emergency number on my cell phone. While many California agencies have upgraded to take 911 cell calls, most go thru CHP, which means CHP is hammered on 911. They need to be able to quickly triage calls, and route to the appropriate agency, whether it's LE or Fire/Medical.

I appreciate and understand you wanting to report drunk drivers....but there are other calls waiting. Don't let your desire to prevent carnage on the road cause the death of someone else who's call could not get through.

[beachcop05]

Ya I agree with willowdared, a DUI is not an emergency, somebody assaulting someone else with a deadly weapon, or an active domestic violence fight, those are emergencies, and we get enough of those at night to keep us busy, we don't need the lines being tied up with people calling in DUI's.

[JPR]

It appears that someone needs to notify Cal Trans of this and get them on the same page.They request motorists to call 911 to report drunk drivers on those nifty PSA signs on the highways these days which I referred to in my original post.

Thanks for the feedback, I am going to program the 1-800-tell-chp number into my phone for future use.;)

[JPR]

I just programmed the 1-800-TELL-CHP into my phone. Since it is a non-emergency number, I called it to verify I programmed my phone successfully and to ask if this is indeed the better number to call for future encounters with impaired drivers. The dispatcher told me it was not a good number to call for that purpose because the call goes to Sacramento. He suggested I call 911 if I see an impaired driver. I thought some of you might want to know this.

[barkalot]

When it comes to drunk drivers, the cooperation between agencies in our area is pathetic.

If I am off-duty in the county and see a potentially drunk driver, I can call 911 and take up critical time listening to a recording OR call county dispatch directly and have them yawn, take the info and tell me they will notify CHP, who will probably be miles away (if on-duty at all) because the county deputies don't handle TRAFFIC violations.

I would have better luck getting a drunk driver off the road by forcing them from the road myself, Of course, then then the county deputies would all show up.

Personally, if there is a drunk driver anywhere near my city I want to know about it and will take appropriate action.

[Blackavar]

I am going to fall on the sword for this one.....


I have stopped calling for impaired drivers and here are four examples of the four tmes I have called.

#1. Saw a car accident on the FWY at 0300 hours. It was a DUI. The passenger fled while I was on the phone with CHP via 911. I gave a description and direction of flight. CHP unit pulls up and orders me to get in the crashed vehicle to steer the car while he pushes it out of lanes. I try to tell him via hand signals and yelling (he was on the PA) the axel was broken. He gets mad at me over the PA and basically yells at me to get in the car. I do and he is horribly inefficient at moving a car with a busted axel. I get out of the car, he gets out of his car and starts to berate me until I show him my badge. Then all of a sudden I am his buddy. I left the scene cursing his name under my breath.

#2. I call CHP via 911 of impaired driver. The driver was swerving from #1 to #4 lane and back. Even stopped completely on the FWY. Driver gets off the FWY and into city jurisdiction so my call gets transferred. I tell city dispatcher who I am because I don't want the officer to freak when he sees my gun on my hip. Dispatcher tells me she is sending me an officer who likes to get DUIs. Officer arrives at scene where impaired driver has pulled into a quickie mart. Officer walks up to impaired driver, asks for license and and then walks to my car ans says, "He's fine...there's no nystagmus or anything." WTF dude, you didn't even check for nystagmus much less do an FST on the guy. I leave disgusted at the laziness.

#3. I call CHP via 911 of obvious DUI. She tells me no officers are near by. Impaired driver (ID) gets off freeway and I try to contact local sheriff (unicorporated area) but never get through to a person. I was on hold for over an hour.

#4. This one took the cake. I call CHP via 911 about an obviously impaired driver. The vehicle was a truck with passenger plates. She tells me not to follow and I tell her who I am and that I am going to follow. She asks me again for the plate number and I confirmed I knew it was a passenger plate on a commerical vehicle. She tells me there are no officers nearby. 2 minutes later I get off the freeway at my exit and there is a CHP sitting on the side of the road cutting paper.

I don't call any more.

[barkalot]

What makes the situation worse in our area is that sheriff deputies would be hard pressed to be able to handle a DUI investigation. They routinely hand off any DUIs to CHP. They would apparently rather sit there and wait for one to show up (we are a rural area with limited CHP coverage) than just do it themselves. It boggles my mind that they seem to have decided not to enforce this part of California state law. Must be nice. I think I will no longer enforce the domestic violence laws and see how that goes over.

[jato]

I agree Pickle I don't call anymore either. When I was a new deputy, I called on several suspected DUIs while off duty. I won’t bore you with the details, but my stories are similar to yours.

I work unincorporated patrol. We don’t perform traffic duties (as you know). While on duty, we DO get "assist CHP" calls where CHP is responding with “extended ETAs” or can’t handle their traffic call because they “have no units available”.

I would like to see one of two things happen (tongue planted in cheek)

1. Have CHP handle OUR calls in proportion to us handling THEIR calls (alarms, 911 incomplete calls, DVs, cold crime reports, prisoners at the indian casinos, etc.)

2. Give us a portion of the CHP budget so we can have the resources to handle traffic calls.

[jato]

What makes the situation worse in our area is that sheriff deputies would be hard pressed to be able to handle a DUI investigation. They routinely hand off any DUIs to CHP. They would apparently rather sit there and wait for one to show up (we are a rural area with limited CHP coverage) than just do it themselves. It boggles my mind that they seem to have decided not to enforce this part of California state law.

I wish CHP wouldn’t call for those pesky PC 245 vehicle calls (intentional vehicle collision, call the Sheriff). I wish CHP wouldn’t routinely shovel their radio calls onto us because “they have no units available”. I wish CHP would handle VC 10851s and VC 23110s since they are Vehicle Code Violations. If CHP comes across a Domestic Violence, I wish they would just “do it themselves”.

I would rather sit and wait for CHP to show up at o’dark thirty. Otherwise, they would never get a chance to see the 4 Indian casinos on my beat and the DUI plagued roads which get ZERO traffic enforcement at night.


[/rant]

:D

[SgtCHP]

What makes the situation worse in our area is that sheriff deputies would be hard pressed to be able to handle a DUI investigation. They routinely hand off any DUIs to CHP. They would apparently rather sit there and wait for one to show up (we are a rural area with limited CHP coverage) than just do it themselves. It boggles my mind that they seem to have decided not to enforce this part of California state law. Must be nice. I think I will no longer enforce the domestic violence laws and see how that goes over.


That is typical in all unicorporated areas of the state. Trust me, the CHP is not responsible for that decision - it is a policy within most sheriff's offices.

My officers frequently complained, when I was on the road, because they could not patrol their own beats because deputies were calling them for deuces. It is a two-way street.

The better thing is to work together and share the load.

When I was an officer I often took Crime Reports because deputies had an extended ETA. When they arrived, I gave them the CR and allowed them to continue with their own investigations. They would do the same for me if they were first on-scene at a TC or CHP matter.

[jato]

When I was an officer I often took Crime Reports because deputies had an extended ETA. When they arrived, I gave them the CR and allowed them to continue with their own investigations. They would do the same for me if they were first on-scene at a TC or CHP matter.

Wow! That is cool, where did that happen? I have never seen it before.

[barkalot]

That is typical in all unicorporated areas of the state. Trust me, the CHP is not responsible for that decision - it is a policy within most sheriff's offices.

My officers frequently complained, when I was on the road, because they could not patrol their own beats because deputies were calling them for deuces. It is a two-way street.

The better thing is to work together and share the load.

When I was an officer I often took Crime Reports because deputies had an extended ETA. When they arrived, I gave them the CR and allowed them to continue with their own investigations. They would do the same for me if they were first on-scene at a TC or CHP matter.

I agree on sharing the load and understand that officers sometimes have no choice in the decision others make.

When I was in Idaho, it was the the other way around; the state police had to justify their existence and strongly encouraged the county to hand off any traffic crashes they were dispatched to. At least in that case, the deputies there routinely handled DUIs.

I had a situation here that showed me just how bad things are. I was driving to work and saw an unregistered POS vehicle parked nearby my house with nobody around. I live in a rural area which mostly has five acre and better plots. It's secluded and quiet. We also had recent burglary activity and a neighbor posted a message encouraging everyone to call in suspicious activity.

I called county dispatch to report the vehicle and when I went on duty, I got an email from one of the deputies (forwarded by an angry dispatcher) who complained that I ought to know they don't handle these types of calls. He apparently considered this a traffic problem to be handled by CHP.

I emailed him back and asked if I should have ignored this situation considering there had been recent burglaries in the area. He ate crow and admitted that I did the right thing, but I could tell it was difficult for him. He added that aside from the burglaries, I should have called CHP.

I think there is a difference between routine traffic violations and reckless driving, drunk driving, vehicular assault, etc. A deputy in this area wouldn't hesitate fro a second to use a traffic violation to make a stop on a suspected drug trafficker.

[nobody33]

I think I covered this in the duplicate thread you also started, but since it was brought up here, if you see a DUI driver it's a legit 911 call. That's CHP policy and my own agency's policy, and with both departments I dispatched for.

That's at least for the two main agencies that take cellular 911 calls in SD county, and the agencies I worked with in the Inland Empire. Other areas have their own policies, but SDPD and CHP both encourage calling 911 for DUI drivers on their websites and in public service announcements.

[JPR]

Wow, after reading all the above, maybe I should just mount some rockets under the front bumper, wait for a clear shot with no chance of collateral damage (or witnesses), and then just take the shot.:D :D

JUST JOKING.....PLEASE DON'T REPORT ME TO HOMELAND SECURITY....JUST DREAMING OUT LOUD.:D :D :D :D

Seriously, as I previously stated, I will continue calling 911 when I see these folks. If nothing else, if I later see a fatal accident involving same on the evening news (God forbid) at least I will know that I did everything a mere citizen could have done to try and prevent it.

[SgtCHP]

This has been posted for a couple of days in a couple of threads. Apparently, you missed it, so I have taken the liberty of pointing it out to you! ;)

http://forums.officer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=73688

Others of you may also have an interest! :D

[JPR]

This has been posted for a couple of days in a couple of threads. Apparently, you missed it, so I have taken the liberty of pointing it out to you! ;)

http://forums.officer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=73688

Others of you may also have an interest! :D

No, I saw it. Thanks for the research and the list of things to look for.:)


BTW, If anyone has noticed, I have tried to be careful to not use the words "drunk driver" but rather refer to them as "impaired drivers." If anyone is curious why I choose that description, it is because all I know for absolute sure is that they are impaired. I cannot state with certainty the reason for their impairment.......I have a brother in law who was working late one night at his university grading papers or some other professorial task. It was not long after he had undergone a heart bypass operation which wreaked some havoc on his system. Up to that point he was a fairly stable diabetic, but the surgery apparently threw him out of balance. On his way home that night, he got pulled over for weaving. He appeared drunk and was just about to get cuffed and carted away when one of the officers (who I heard was also a diabetic) happened to notice a distinctive odor on his breath characteristic of diabetics. Instead of being hauled to jail and thrown in a drunk tank, they got him medical care. He was lucky because it could have been fatal if that officer hadn't noticed his condition when he did.

[JPR]

.........................Dispatcher tells me she is sending me an officer who likes to get DUIs. Officer arrives at scene where impaired driver has pulled into a quickie mart. Officer walks up to impaired driver, asks for license and and then walks to my car ans says, "He's fine...there's no nystagmus or anything." WTF dude, you didn't even check for nystagmus much less do an FST on the guy. ....................

Reading this made me remember something from years ago. One night , or rather morning (it was about 2am), I was having trouble sleeping. I guess it was meant to be because I heard the faint sound of my doorbell which is on the other side of the house from our bedroom.

Not expecting any company at that time of day, I grabbed my 1911, slid a full clip in it, and proceeded to see who was calling on me at this hour of day. I turned on my porch light and looked out of the window to see two CHP officers and my friend Mark who was dressed in a tuxedo. I thought I must have fallen asleep and this was a dream.

I laid my 1911 out of view and answered the door. The officers bid my friend a farewell and left. My friend then proceeded to explain to me that he was driving home from a city gala where he was rubbing shoulders with the local power brokers when he got pulled over for weaving.

He didn't do well on the breath test, but because he was at that time a lieutenant at a big city fire department, they gave him a break and asked him if he knew anybody who lived nearby (he lived quite a ways out of town.)

Well, guess who's address he remembered? So one of them drove him here while the other officer drove his car here and they made him promise to stay until he was good to go. Perhaps, just perhaps, something similar happened during the incident you described.;)

[SgtCHP]

Wow! That is cool, where did that happen? I have never seen it before.


When I worked the West End area of San Bernardino County during the early 70s. We had a vast patrol area before the incorporation of Chino Hills, Chino, Ontario and Diamond Bar. I usually patrolled Mt. Baldy in the winter and South of Ontario and Chino in the summer. I carried blank reports for the SBSD and one of their radios.

On Mt. Baldy there was one deputy and myself so we assisted each other with great rapport.

[Blue Leader]

I didn't read every post so forgive me if this has already been stated but bottom line, it's a staffing issue. I drive home from work (local PD) for 25 miles on the 5 FWY at 0300. I see alot of DUI's. I've called in maybe 5-7 times. The CHP has had somebody available twice. That's just the way it is.

The area where I work has (6) service areas (beats) and due to staffing, we cover THREE of them on saturday nights. Two weeks ago, we had so much going on that there were 40+ calls holding with nobody to go for hours on end. This past sunday, we had (3) DUI crashes, a stolen car pursuit and a shooting within a 3 hour time period. We had to borrow EVERY officer from the neighboring division. Consequently, that division had ZERO officers for a while. It's an 'upper crust" community with $1,000,000+ tract homes...I'd like to know what they'd say if they had no cops for any call at all.

[jato]

Sunday we had the following on my beat during my shift:

1. Roll-over serious injury accident (DUI)
2. Truck vs. motorcycle fatality.
3. Vehicle vs. kid on bike fatality (DUI)

Of course CHP handled them all (unincorporated area). My hat is off to CHP who had a very busy day. I even filled out a CHP180 for the CHP Officer who handled the roll-over DUI crash by himself (i.e. no other help from his fellow CHPers).

I expressed my concern to a CHP Officer regarding the complete lack of CHP presence during night shift hours. DUIs are having a free-for-all!

[djack16]

I have called in many suspected DUI's in my time driving so far. The best one was hometown police working in conjunction with me to nail the guy at a fast food restaurant. I was with some friend on the way to get a pizza and (ironically) some alcohol and we decided to follow at a distance and tell them where he was.

The worst though was when I called in a guy and gave a description of the vehicle. It was vague though as it was dark and visibly was slightly affected by weather. The car was going faster than I so after I gave the description and was finished with CHP I hung up. Just a couple miles later I see CHP pulled over a guy that sort of matched the description but obviously was a diffferent vehicle. It COULD have been a different incident but I'm pretty sure it was my advice that got that guy pulled over :x .

I'll program my phone with 1800TELLCHP as well and spread it around. I encourage people with hands free to call in these idiots whenever they see them. If they aren't drunk, there may be some other reason why they are driving so erratically. Maybe a medical emergency. Always a good idea to be on the safe side.