A tradition of aggressive DUI arrests by officers and police departments is resulting in the breakdown of civil liberties in Colorado, in line with a lawyer employed by Harris Elias. The metropolis of Loveland has agreed to pay Mr. Elias $400,000 over a 2020 arrest wherein each a breathalyzer take a look at and a blood take a look at proved he was not drunk or underneath the affect of any medicine. The following yr close by Fort Collins police put Elias in jail for 3 days within the pursuit of a DUI conviction, however once more his blood take a look at confirmed no chemical impairments. A second lawsuit is in course of for that arrest as effectively.
“It’s just striking that it was me twice,” stated Elias. “I’m surprised it didn’t happen to more people twice. All that they cared about was one notch in their belt and I just happened to drive by twice. Both the City of Loveland and Fort Collins picked the wrong guy to pick a fight with. And I picked the right attorney,” he continued.
“If we’re incentivizing and patting them [officers making DUI arrests] on the back for the quantity of DUI arrests that they’re making, without caring at all for the quality of them, that’s a disgusting and terrible system that is going to hurt more and more innocent people,” acknowledged Sarah Schielke, Elias’ lawyer.
In the case of the 2020 arrest, Elias was initially pulled over for failing to sign a lane change, and for driving 18 miles per hour in a forty five mph zone. The officer verbalized on the time that the automobile smelled “overwhelming odor of alcohol” and took Elias into custody when he declined a roadside alcohol take a look at. A breath take a look at administered on the police station returned nothing, so the officers pushed for a blood take a look at as effectively.
Schielke believes Colorado cops have begun pursuing DUI arrests with reckless disregard for innocence, establishing competitors between officers and departments for “more bragging rights, more funding, more equipment, more officers, and more literal trophies.” These officers, she argues, are solely involved with their stats. Officers with essentially the most DUI arrests are given increased honors and higher shifts.
Source: jalopnik.com