Austin Police Department enforces ‘no refusal’ policy for Super Bowl weekend

The Austin Police Department enforced a “no refusal” policy during Super Bowl weekend in an attempt to keep drunk drivers off the roads.

"We have a zero tolerance for drunk driving in the city of Austin,” Chief of Police Art Acevedo said. “We don't apologize for our very aggressive enforcement action and most importantly our aggressive ‘no refusal’ initiatives.”

The APD enforced this policy for the fourth straight year during Super Bowl weekend. From 7:30 p.m. Sunday to 5 a.m. Monday, officers made 17 arrests. Of those 17, seven drivers agreed to a breath test. The others all refused, and as a result, they each had their blood drawn through a search warrant.

The APD enforces the “no refusal” policy for several big holidays and occasions. Crime analysts in the department continually track impaired driving trends for years at a time to decide when to enforce the policy. The number of arrests went down from 2013 to 2014 during Super Bowl Sunday.

For the 2013 Super Bowl, 12 arrested drivers refused a breath test. Six of these drivers tested above the legal limit after police received a search warrant.

Texas law requires drivers to take a blood or breath test if arrested for a DWI offense. Drivers give an “implied consent” when they apply to receive a driver’s license. They have the right to refuse, but the police department can use their refusal against them in court, which may result in a license suspension. Drivers cannot refuse, however, if they have previous DWI offenses, if a child under 15 rides in the backseat, or if the arrest involves an accident resulting in injury or death.

“The purpose of the no refusal is to encourage people not to drink and drive, and we inform them in advance via the media that we are having a no-refusal event,” Lt. Keith Walker said. “We hope that this causes people to either plan ahead to keep from driving, or to take an alternate form of transportation if they have been drinking.” Lt. Walker leads DWI enforcement at the APD.

“When a no-refusal weekend is region-wide, we participate as well,” University of Texas Police Department spokeswomen Cindy Posey said. The UTPD has a separate jurisdiction from the APD, but during these weekends, they use the same policies.

Other cities in Texas, such as San Antonio, enforce a “no refusal” policy year-round during the weekends. The advantages of enforcing this policy year-round include easier prosecution and stricter sentences, which reduce the likelihood of impaired drivers on the roads. However, several disadvantages exist, too. “More lab tests means it would be longer before results are available and it would increase the workload of the lab personnel,” Walker said. “This can be mitigated by using outside laboratories, but that of course is an increased cost.”

For now, the APD enforces “no refusal” weekends just six times per year. The APD first used this policy during Halloween in 2008 for the safety of children trick-or-treating in the streets. Crime analysts will continue to keep track of DWI arrests on “no refusal” weekends and look for patterns to determine the effectiveness of the policy. The APD’s main focus remains preventing people from drinking and driving.