Police: DUI Arrests, Wrecks at 5-Year Low

Mount Pleasant in 2012 recorded its lowest number of DUI arrests in five years, and its lowest number of DUI crashes in at least six years, according to data released to Patch this week.

In 2012, the town arrested 293 suspected drunk drivers and investigated 59 crashes involving alcohol, figures show. That's down from 437 arrests in 2010, the highest number since 2007. The peak for crashes was at 90 incidents in 2011.

In the first 6 months of 2013, the town booked 126 DUI suspects and worked 30 DUI-involved crashes. Chief Carl Ritchie says that's roughly on pace with 2012.

Police credit the town's no-tolerance reputation and the police force's outreach efforts for the reduction in arrests.

"We got really heavy in the education part of it in 2010 and 2011," Ritchie said. "We started reaching out to bars, to bartenders ... teaching them how to identify someone who has been overserved."

Police encouraged alcohol servers to call their customers cabs when it was clear they couldn't drive. Now, after closing hours, officers regularly see bar parking lots that are scattered with cars left by patrons who possibly had too much to drink. That wasn't the case a few years ago, Ritchie said.

The town began aggressively enforcing DUI laws in 2006 when a state grant funded two patrol officers dedicated solely to spotting aggressive and impaired drivers. The grant ran out in 2011, but Ritchie said the officers are still on full-time traffic patrol. 

With the help of that grant, Mount Pleasant recorded some of the highest DUI arrest in all of South Carolina. The department was recognized for its DUI efforts by the State of South Carolina in 2010 and 2011. 

The attention was at times negative, but Ritchie says the town's reputation is partly behind the drop in arrests.

"I make no apologies for (our high arrest numbers)," Ritchie said. "In 2011, we had 411 DUI arrests, but we still had 90 DUI-related crashes. Imagine how many crashes we would have had if we didn't get those 411 drivers off the road."

The no-tolerance attitude likely contributed to the decline in arrests, Ritchie said.

"I have no problem with that reputation," Ritchie said. "We want you to come over here and enjoy yourself, enjoy the scenery, the bars, sit on Shem Creek and have a beer, but when the night's over, have a designated driver or call a cab."