MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Texas – Starting Wednesday, Montgomery County law enforcement agencies will begin to conduct increased DWI enforcement over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
These increased operations will continue through Sunday.
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The Montgomery County District Attorney’s office, in conjunction with both state and local law enforcement agencies, will increase no-refusal operations and DWI enforcement throughout Montgomery County. from east to west. The goal of this initiative is to prevent traffic-related crashes and deaths caused by impaired drivers.
During this time, the District Attorney’s office, through their No Refusal TxDOT Grant, will provide nurses, prosecutors, and investigators, to assist law enforcement in obtaining blood evidence in cases were a DWI suspect refuses to provide a scientific sample.
This is how the process works:
1) an officer makes a DWI arrest and asks the suspect for a breath or blood sample;
2) if the suspect refuses, the officer then meets with a prosecutor who drafts a search warrant for the suspect’s blood;
3) the warrant is sent to an on-call judge who will review the warrant for probable cause;
4) if probable cause is found, a nurse will then take a sample of the DWI suspect’s blood.
“These no refusal operations ensure that scientific evidence is obtained in all DWI cases and provides the prosecution with strong evidence of guilt or innocence,” a news release announcing the event said. “Many Montgomery County law enforcement agencies have committed to increasing DWI Enforcement to catch as many impaired drivers as possible.”
“As many travel to spend Thanksgiving with their loved ones, law enforcement will be out looking for impaired drivers and working to keep our roads safe,” Andrew James, Vehicular Crimes Chief, is quoted as saying in the news release about the event. “If you chose to drive impaired, you will be caught, and you will be prosecuted. There is no excuse to get behind the wheel impaired. Don’t put yourself and others in danger.”