Tulsa police using portable breathalyzers to test for DUI
Posted: 10/15/2012
TULSA - Tulsa police have new equipment for pulling over drunk drivers and it could help convict an offender in court.
Police will soon have portable breathalyzers inside their cars. They'll ask a suspect to blow right at the scene, which immediately shows a blood alcohol level.
Officers say this gives them hard evidence to send a suspect to jail.
In the past, an officer would pull over a suspect and perform a field sobriety test. Police say if the suspect failed, they could only assume that person was drunk. Police would then take the suspect to jail for a breathalyzer or to the hospital to draw blood. They say that's a timely process that can lower a suspect's B.A.C and give them more loopholes in court.
Tulsa police were waiting to purchase the breathalyzers. Officer Craig Murray says they were watching the struggles of other states when using the tool as evidence in court.
Not all Tulsa officers will have the breathalyzers. They'll be given to 14 who patrol in high DUI areas.
Experts say in Tulsa County about 200 people are pulled over for DUI each month.
Copyright 2012 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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