DUII agencies of the year

Enterprise Police Department is a very small agency in Eastern Oregon which was nominated by one of its officers.

The nomination noted that in 2022 his chief encouraged him to attend an ARIDE class and then the DRE school.  Furthermore, the agency applied for  and received the ODOT DUII Overtime grant and started participating in High Visibility Enforcement efforts.  They put ads on the radio and spread the word around town that they would be out in force as a deterrent for impaired drivers.  Two of the agency’s officers were recognized by ODOT Impaired Driving Program Manager Ryan Stone for their DUII enforcement efforts. 

The officer making this nomination came back from DRE school and started training the other officer and his chief on how to recognize drivers impaired on substances other than alcohol.  That’s right – this (during 2022) is a 3-person department.  This agency then started educating known drug users in town of the dangers of driving while impaired. 

The agency saw a significant increase in DUII arrests in 2022, with a total of 28 DUII arrests in a town of 2000 people.  The agency’s officers were also involved in many other DUII cases from the surrounding county involving OSP and Sheriff’s Office deputies. 

Many of those arrested were eligible for treatment court.  The officer making this nomination notes that some of them have done well, been held accountable where they would not have otherwise, and received help for their addiction.

In a tiny town in Eastern Oregon one or two officers engaged in enforcement and education and cared enough to follow up on the results of treatment provided to DUII offenders and are making a difference in attitudes about impaired driving. 

For this, the DUII Task Force is honored to recognize the Enterprise Police Department as one of our DUII Enforcement Agencies of the Year.

Our second honoree for DUII Enforcement Agency of the Year is a smaller Sheriff’s Office with about 20 Law Enforcement deputies in a county of about 120,000 people.

Yamhill County SO has made a very deliberate and concerted effort to focus on DUII drivers.  In 2022 these deputies made 259 DUII arrests, and their 2 DREs performed 20 evaluations.  Both DREs are also assigned to the Multi-Agency Traffic Team which investigates serious injury and fatal crashes.  They are relied upon to obtain evidence and write search warrants for any suspected impaired-driving crash.

Additionally, Yamhill County SO hosted an ARIDE class, assisted with another ARIDE class in another county, conducted an Intoxilyzer 8000 certification course, and held an SFST Refresher with a wet lab.

Yamhill County SO also uses social media to highlight impaired driving incidents in an effort to remind citizens of the costs of impaired driving.

For their significant accomplishments in training, public education, and enforcement of DUII laws the DUII Task Force has named Yamhill County Sheriff’s Office as one of its 2022 DUII Enforcement Agencies of the Year.