Companies like Smart Start are advancing technology in order to keep DWI offenders from cheating on their breathalyzer tests.

These smarter breathalyzers aim to keep an eye on the offenders outside of the courtroom with a new vantage point; cameras. With these new breathalyzers, Smart Start intends to stay one step ahead of the violators and the tricks they use with the ignition interlock devices.

Installation of breathalyzers may be required by law by convicted drunk drivers. A breathalyzer aims to measure the blood alcohol content of the DWI offender while driving, to ensure that the person is not drunk.

There are a number of devices available for drunk drivers which they can lease and install in their vehicle. However, despite the installation of these devices in their vehicles, offenders try to cheat on their breathalyzer tests by letting someone else to take the test for them.

Former probation officer, Carolina Kolpack knows that offenders try cheating on their breathalyzer tests. She said, “The devices that are used for Smart Start are all equipped with a camera to capture the image of a client that is giving the breath sample and that’s to prevent a client from circumventing what is required of them to do which is their own breath sample.”

Apart from incorporating cameras to the breathalyzers, Smart Start will also be introducing a GPS system to take breath samples from the client. The GPS system will be the size of a cell phone and will be carried by the person as opposed to being installed in a vehicle.

For now, the car interlock by Smart Start can be leased monthly to install in the vehicle, which has a camera along with two “in-home” devices.

These in-home devices differ in their functionality as the in-home cellular allows the monitoring authority to check on the offender at any point in time during the day, by asking the violator to come into the shop for a check.

The Smart Start camera installed in-homes and interlocks allow convicted drunk drivers that don’t have a vehicle to still be monitored, have their blood alcohol level checked and insure it is in fact the convicted person blowing into the device.

PORTLAND – State Police Sergeant Robin Parker pleaded guilty Tuesday to drunk driving in connection with an incident that took place last year on the Maine Turnpike. He will be suspended for 60 days and is facing a penalty that could cost him more than $12,000 in lost wages and benefits.

According to the Portland Press Herald, Parker appeared in Cumberland County Court yesterday and was fined $500. He also lost his license for 90 days as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors. Reports also said that he was demoted two ranks, from sergeant to trooper, as a result of an internal inquiry by the state police. He is suspected to be without pay for the next two months and was suspended from the state police, starting Tuesday. He will lose one-sixth of his annual base pay, which in 2011 was $66,000. He also must pay for his own insurance during that period, a cost of about $1,500.

Parker was involved in a drunken driving accident December 18 last year, when he was stopped by a trooper on the Maine Turnpike after another motorist reported an erratic driver. His blood alcohol level was recorded at 0.14%, well above the 0.08 legal limit and just below the threshold of 0.15% which requires a minimum of two days in jail.

When he appeared before Judge Richard Mulhern on Tuesday morning in Cumberland County Unified Criminal Court, he told him that he wanted to take responsibility for his actions and move on. “I plead guilty,” he responded, after the charge of driving with a blood-alcohol content of at least 0.08 percent was read out.

During his visit to the court, Parker was accompanied by his attorney, Jonathan Goodman. “All I would want to say is I came here today to take responsibility for my actions and I look forward to moving ahead,” he said after leaving the courtroom.

Parker was assigned as the permanent state police cadre supervisor seven months ago at the Maine Criminal Justice Academy in Vassalboro. Mitigated by Parker’s good record of over 17 years with the force, Col. Robert Williams, chief of the state police said that Parker settled on the punishment because of the seriousness of the misconduct.

“Some people would classify this as a victimless crime, but when you look at the potential, what the outcome could have been, the outcome can be very traumatic,” Williams said. “Every day we go out and try to prevent this from happening. We end up cleaning up the result of it. Sometimes those results are deadly.”

Williams also said that he was impressed by the public apology that Parker emailed to troopers right after the charge became public. Parker took full responsibility for his actions and said that the trooper who charged him did the right thing.

Parker has completed the Driver Education and Evaluation Program and can get a permit to drive to and from work after 60 days.

After his suspension, Parker will be assigned a desk job at the state police barracks in Gray until his driver’s license is fully reinstated, after which he will be assigned as a trooper in York County.

HIGHLAND PARK, Mich. – Former Miss USA, Rima Fakih, appeared in a Detroit-area courtroom on Wednesday for an initial appearance in a drunken driving case.

The former Miss USA was arrested last year December 3, when a Highland Park police officer observed her driving a black 2011 Jaguar XJR at high speed in the area of 6 Mile and Woodward. Fakih was asked to submit to a breath test after being pulled over which revealed her blood alcohol level at 0.19, more than twice the legal limit of 0.08.

26-year-old Fakih appeared in the 30^th District Court with her attorney, W. Otis Culpepper who will prepare for a trial. She stood quietly next to her attorney as Judge Brigette Officer set a bench date for March 14. This was Fakih’s first court appearance since the December 3 traffic stop.

Fakih faces up to 93 days in jail along with fines if convicted, but lawyers said her drunken driving case could be resolved with a plea deal. Her lawyer also knows that a plea bargain is possible and anticipates that a “proper conclusion” will be reached.

“Of course she’s remorseful,” Culpepper said. “She’s a model for young women. … She’s a woman of substantial character.”

Culpepper also said that he is going to work to make sure Fakih’s rights are guaranteed. “You never want to discount the possibility of negotiation, but it that does not work out to her advantage, a trial is not something we are afraid of,” Culpepper said.

Fakih was approached by reporters outside court, “I apologize. My lawyer doesn’t want me to talk,” she told them.

Fakih was born in Lebanon and moved to the U.S. in 1993 with her family. She grew up in Dearborn and won the Miss USA title in 2010 and served until June 2011. She was the first Miss Michigan to win the title since 1993 and the first Arab-American winner ever. Supporters described her win as a victory for diversity, saying it countered negative stereotypes about people of Middle Eastern descent that have flourished in post-9/11 America.

Culpepper said she is seeking work and is an aspiring actress.

Oklahoma City – Fatalities due to drunk driving crashes have been on the rise in Oklahoma and Tulsa Counties for the past five years.

According to research carried out by McIntyre Law Firm, last year recorded the biggest increase yet in drunk driving deaths at 245. The figure included almost 30 pedestrians and one bicyclist who were killed in drunk driving accidents.

Oklahoma and Tulsa Counties were followed by Cleveland and Caddo counties with the highest number of drunk driving fatalities.

The statistics were compiled by Attorney Noble McIntyre using research from the National Highway Safety Administration, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol and the Fatality Analysis Reporting System.

The statistics also showed that almost 70 percent of the fatal crashes occurred after dark, most of them in non-lighted areas, whereas 40 percent of the fatal crashes happened in rural areas which had little or no light.

The research also showed that about 75 percent of the victims in alcohol-related deaths are men and the remaining 25 percent are women.

A surprising fact also came to light with this research, that although the number of fatalities increased the last year, the number of alcohol-related traffic accidents decreased statewide.

FRAMINGHAM – The attorney for Onyango Obama, uncle of President Obama, is reviewing the driving records of the police officer who arrested him on drunken driving charges.

Mr. Obama, who is the half brother of the president’s deceased father was arrested for drunk driving charges in August last year for rolling through a stop sign and failing a field sobriety test. His attorney, P. Scott Bratton had asked for the driving records of the officer, Val Krishtal, and the Middlesex County District Attorney’s office turned over the records which are public.

Obama and Bratton appeared in Framingham District Court Thursday and told the judge that he now has the driving history of the Framingham police officer who arrested Onyango Obama for drunk driving last year.

According to Chief Steven Carl, the police officer who pulled over and arrested President Obama’s uncle had been involved in 16 accidents and has been at fault in nine of those accidents in the past 15 years. However, that does not mean that Officer Krishtal’s stop and arrest of Obama was invalid.

Bratton is looking into his history to find out “if there is a pattern of conduct of behaviour on the part of the officer.”

Records also show that as late as July of this year, Officer Krishtal’s license was currently not renewable because of either unpaid taxes or citations.

Carl defended the officer and said that Krishtal has never lied about what happened in accidents, and would have no reason to be untruthful about what happened when he arrested Obama. He also said, “My opinion is that this doesn’t have an impact on this drunk driving case. I view it as a good attempt by a defense lawyer trying to defend his client. I think a judge hearing the motion will see through it. If not, I think a jury will see through it.”

Despite chief’s comments, Bratton has also filed paperwork seeking to suppress the chemical breath test and is challenging the legality of Obama’s arrest. A hearing on those issues is now set for March 1.

PORTLAND, IN – 36-year-old David M. Oxley of rural Portland, who was charged of felony driving while intoxicated, remains in jail, accused of causing a death while drunk.

According to Jay County Sheriff Ray Newton, 36-year-old Michael L. Limbert died at the scene of the accident at Jay County roads 650-S and 250-W.

The accident happened around 10:30 p.m. Saturday, when Oxley hit Limbert’s car head-on, causing it to roll over repeatedly before landing in a field. According to Jay County Sheriff’s deputies, Oxley was driving north on 250-W when he tried to pass another vehicle driven by 21-year-old Jordan J. Hess, of Fort Recovery, Ohio.

Three other passengers were riding with Hess, Nicole M. Bertke, 19, Maria Stein, Ohio, Tyler Bruggeman, 22, Saint Henry, Ohio, and Lauren Bruns, 18, Celina, Ohio who were all injured in the accident. Hess was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected from his vehicle.

The sheriff’s deputies suspect that Oxley has been drinking and also made an improper pass, causing the accident. Oxley also suffered a legal injury as a result of the accident.

He was charged with drunk driving and taken into custody. The results of his blood alcohol test are still pending.

34-year-old Daniel Lee Sherman was arrested on DUII charges near the Sellwood Bridge in Portland Monday night.

Sherman was driving his 1994 Saturn and was stalling in the fast lane of Macadam Boulevard near the entrance of the bridge with his three children. The children called their grandmother over concerns about their father’s driving.

The incident happened about 5:41 pm Monday when the concerned grandmother called the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) to inform about the drunk driver.

Sherman’s children aged 10, 9 and 3 were headed towards La Center, Washington, from Coos Bay with their father.

Sherman was lodged in the Multnomah County Detention Center on one count each of driving under the influence of intoxicants and reckless driving, and 3 counts of reckless endangerment.

The children were turned over to the custody of their grandmother.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – The sheriff deputies in Santa Clara County have arrested 243 people for drunk driving this holiday season.

These arrests have been made by law enforcement officers throughout the county during an anti-DUI crackdown which started December 16 through Christmas Eve.

According to a CHP news release, these arrests were made on local roadways, recording a slightly lower number of DUI arrests during the same nine-day period last year which recorded 286 drunk driving arrests.

Police in Santa Clara County also said that there were no deaths as a result of drunk driving on Christmas Eve, but two DUI-related crashes were reported that caused minor injuries.

As part of the ongoing anti drunk driving campaign, drivers can expect to see DUI checkpoints and patrols throughout the county. Police are also asking the public to report drunk drivers during the holiday season by calling 9-11.

GREECE, N.Y. – A drunken New York man struck a deer with his vehicle and then tried driving the injured animal to a nearby hospital.

29-year-old Andrew Caswell was driving in the suburban Rochester town of Greece early Monday when he hit a deer.

He was in the car with his three companions who argued over what to do with the injured animal when Caswell finally decided to drive the deer to the nearest hospital – for humans.

When they were on the way to the hospital, an officer pulled the car and discovered the deer had died in the vehicle’s trunk.

Caswell’s blood alcohol level was checked and was reported at 0.16 percent, twice the legal limit.

Police Chief Todd Baxter said that although his effort to try and save the deer was commendable, “driving while intoxicated will not be tolerated”.

A number of police departments are cracking down on drunk drivers during the holiday season, but The Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists (AAIM) is targeting drunk drivers during the holiday season by offering a reward to those who report them.

The program has already been put in effect for all of Illinois and will continue during the holiday weekends. According to the program, motorists can be paid $100 for reporting an impaired driver which leads to a DUI arrest.

The effort is part of the Drunkbusters program which aims to put together a joint effort to remove impaired drivers from the roads during the Christmas and New Year’s vacations. Drunkbusters runs year round in Lake, McHenry, DuPage, Will and Kane counties and will continue through Illinois for the next two weekends.

The Drunkbusters program has paid over $445,000 as reward to people since the program started in 1990 and has resulted in the arrests of over 4,450 impaired motorists. The program is funded by fines collected from convicted drunk drivers.

The most popular method for reporting drunk drivers is via cell phone but a number of drunk drivers have also been reported from convenience stores and gas stations. Callers are required to identify the possible drunk driver by describing the erratic driving behavior of the vehicle in question and have to provide a description, location, direction of travel, and also the license plate of the vehicle if possible.

If the report results in an arrest for DUI, AAIM will send the caller $100 after the arresting agency confirms the arrest in writing.

AAIM aims to control the number of injuries and fatalities as a result of drunk driving through the Drunkbusters program. According to statistics, more than 800 people were injured during the Christmas holiday last year and over 535 during the New Year’s holiday.