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In 2002, Carbondale officers made 312 driving under the influence arrests, a number that may seem minimal when compared to the more than 6,000 recorded by Chicago Police but alarmingly high when measured against other college towns.
Champaign, De Kalb and Macomb, home to the University of Illinois, Northern Illinois University and Western Illinois University, respectively, each registered less than 200 DUI stops last year. Macomb managed to do the most with the least, recording 193 DUI arrests with only 25 officers, a rate of 7.7 each.
According to an annual survey compiled by the Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists, the average DUI arrest rate per officer for the Illinois State Police in 2002 was a shade under four. By comparison, the average DUI arrest rate for a Carbondale Police officer ˜ a department with 2,000 fewer sworn officers ˜ was more than five.
Those figures suggest the epidemic of driving under the influence spreads beyond the borders of Chicago, which accounted for more than 6,000 DUIs in 2002.
Not every college town outside the Windy City is immune to the burgeoning outbreak of DUIs. Normal, site of Illinois State University, topped Carbondale by 50 DUI arrests in 2002, compiling 362.
SIUC, meanwhile, recently took another step toward curbing Carbondale's DUI woes, using a grant from the Illinois Department of Transportation to conduct additional traffic enforcement activities during the last two weekends in October.
Charlene Chapman, executive director of the AAIM, said the number of DUI stops reported in a community may not be indicative of its volume of drunk drivers.
"Just because there are more arrests in a certain region doesn't mean there are more drunk drivers there than in the rest of the state," Chapman said. "But it does indicate a more active enforcement effort targeting DUIs by those departments when compared to other departments."
Southern Illinois is not lacking when it comes to active enforcement. With just 18 officers, Murphysboro Police recorded an arrest rate of 11.3 last year, eighth highest in Illinois. Murphysboro Police Chief Jeff Bock said saturation patrolling during peak hours was a key factor in his department logging 203 DUI stops.
"The late-night hours when the bars are letting out," Bock said. "That's when you find more intoxicated motorists on the road, and that's when you have to step up your staffing to clamp down on that."
Carbondale Officer Jeff Gill clamped down on local drunk drivers in 2002, amassing 101 DUI arrests on his own. Gill was among 27 officers in Illinois to top the century mark for DUI stops and just one of a select few outside the Chicago area.
Gill was unable to be reached for comment, but Carbondale Officer Doug Wilson said he also roams the streets of Carbondale with an eye for intoxicated motorists.
"We have different districts in town, so wherever I'm at, that's where I patrol," Wilson said. "I usually look for them pretty hard and heavy, though."
On the DUI arrest list along with Gill was Naperville Officer Kevin Driscoll, whose department was tops in the state last year in DUI arrests among municipal departments. Naperville Police Chief David Dial said the figures registered by Driscoll and his other officers were aided in part by his community's low crime rate and high quality of life.
Naperville's DUI policy is one of the most stringent in the state, but even they fail to match up to the head scratching numbers registered by the Caseyville Police Department. Caseyville averaged 17 DUI arrests per officer in 2002, the highest total in Illinois.
"It's not a stretch to say that we can pick off a DUI or two any night of the week, not just on the weekends," Hosp said.
Caseyville, located two hours from Carbondale in Southwestern Illinois, boasts only nine sworn officers, yet this year they have already totaled over 130 DUI stops.
"I feel that stopping drunk drivers is the most important thing you can do," Hosp said. "A drunk driver is, in essence, a three or four thousand pound missile waiting to kill someone. Each drunk driver you stop is a possible homicide that you've prevented."
One aspect of drunk driving Hosp said often goes overlooked is the economic impact drunk driving can have on a community. In 2001, Caseyville police estimated five people suffered injuries in DUI crashes, in addition to 21 crashes that resulted in only property damage. Even though none of the injuries were serious, the total cost amounted to $319,000.
Southern Illinois' pocketbook was hit far harder in 2001. Herrin, a town of less than 12,000, had two DUI fatalities, 11 injuries and 20 property damage crashes, which added up to $2,611,500. Carbondale was less afflicted, but with one fatality, 27 injuries and 19 property damage crashes, it still owed $2,149,000.
Statewide, the economic costs of crashes involving alcohol totaled more than $1 billion, yet some cities doled out more than others. In a larger and more affluent community like Naperville, Dial said the costs can sometimes be staggering. Naperville recorded three DUI fatalities, 59 injuries and 56 property damage crashes in 2001, totaling $5,637,500.
"When you take in the cost of the funeral and everything else that goes into the process, it can add up in a hurry," Dial said.
But as Carbondale officers and other departments preach, the best way to stamp out drinking and driving-related deaths and costs is to stop it before it starts.
"If you're going to be drinking, get a designated driver or go to a bar that's close enough where you can walk home," Wilson said. "We're constantly looking for different kinds of crimes, but the ones that always hit closest to home are the DUIs."
