PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Only a fraction of drunk drivers are being pulled over and fewer are being prosecuted, according to a new internal report.
In 2016, the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office said it was referred over 2,000 drunk driving cases. In 2022, there were only 505.
“That’s 25 percent of what we got before and that’s substantial. That would be a major positive public safety story if that actually reflected the crime levels in our community, but I think we all know it doesn’t,” said Deputy District Attorney Adam Gibbs.
In a memorandum sent to DA Mike Schmidt, Gibbs laid out what he said was behind the dramatic shift: the total number of cases coming in and the cases they could actually prosecute due to evidence.
While the sheer volume of DUIIs is a fraction of what it used to be, Gibbs says another troubling factor is the number of DUII cases that aren’t being investigated. This is for the whole county — but the discrepancies between the different law enforcement agencies are stark.
In 2022, the Portland Police Bureau charged 459 DUIIs in total. Of those, the DA’s Office determined 89 didn’t have sufficient evidence to prosecute. That’s almost 20 percent.
The only other law enforcement agency to report a no-investigation arrest was Gresham with four of their 92 total.
“We want to prosecute them, they want us to prosecute them, the public wants us to prosecute them right? There is nobody who is in favor of drunk drivers I can say that very confidently,” said Gibbs.
The DA claims that if they don’t have proper evidence they are forced to drop cases. Not only that, but Gibbs says law enforcement is also not making the arrests.
Prior to the pandemic, PPB said patrol cops would call a traffic officer after pulling over a DUII driver. But now the traffic division doesn’t even exist.
“We don’t have a traffic division, so we’re not out there on the Friday and Saturday nights trying to find those folks who are trying to make their way home from the bar,” said Sgt. Ty Engstrom from PPB.
He added that “the officer may not have the experience or training or certifications to process that drunk driver.”
In order for an officer to have certification to perform a breathalyzer, they need to administer one at least every two years. Before the pandemic, this would have been handled by a specialized traffic division officer, but Sgt. Engstrom says they don’t have the staff now.
Both Gibbs and Engstrom told KOIN 6 that most DUII-related arrests now are made after the driver has been involved in a crash.