Fall '03 Edition
A force on the road
Nicole Sack
Daily Egyptian
 Derek Anderson ~ Daily EgyptianMurphysboro police officer Gib Bastien has made nearly 80 DUI and zero tolerance arrests this year alone. "I'm not one who like to frighten people in anything, " said Bastien. "But my momma taught me that if you can't take telling you're gonna take feeling." |
As the nighttime hours turn into the early hours of morning, one police officer patrols the streets of Murphysboro searching for crime.
Working his preferred shift, 9 p.m. to 7 p.m., the one crime that Murphysboro Police Officer Gib Bastien watches for particularly closely is driving under the influence.
During the past year, Bastien has made nearly 80 DUI and zero-tolerance arrests. During a typical weekend he makes three to four arrests. And there are also "hat trick" nights when the DUI arrests occur in threes.
Bastien has been with the Murphysboro Police Department for 18 years. He became a full time patrol officer in 2002. Since then, he has honed his senses to pick up on the telltale signs of DUI.
One of his greatest assets is that he likes to arrest drunk drivers.
"When I conduct a DUI traffic stop and in turn make an arrest, yes, I am very gratified," Bastien said. "I'm pleased. I think driving drunk is the most dangerous thing that can be. When you are impaired, you're a threat to motorists all over as well as pedestrians. You have in your power a weapon that is greater than any weapon I have in my power as a police officer. You have a 2,000 pound projectile, you can do a lot of damage with that."
Two accidents that stick out in his mind occurred this year when drunk drivers slammed their vehicles into other cars and into embankments. One accident involved a pick-up truck that was waiting at a stop sign when a vehicle driven by drunk driver collided with the stationary pick-up.
"The intoxicated driver came down the street, and he didn't even slow down," Bastien said. "The driver was going 35 to 40 miles an hour."
Bastien said a way he catches most of his DUI arrestees is with the speed their vehicles are traveling. Most drunk drivers have a difficult time with the speed limits driving in and out of town.
"Intoxicated people have a tough time processing the information they are perceiving while they are driving down the road," Bastien said. "They may be driving to fast into town or too slow out of town, simply because they can't perceive what's going on."
Once he stops the driver, his nose literally helps him sniff out drunk drivers.
"I do have and I have always had a keen sense of smell when it comes to alcohol," Bastien said. "There have been very few times in my career that I have been fooled. When I think I smell alcohol, I'm pretty much right."
While he has a knack for pinpointing those who are driving impaired, it is his observation of the driver's vehicle that justifies him turning on the bright blue and red lights, the wailing siren and asking the dreaded question: "License and registration?"
Bastien said while he is patrolling, he pays attention to people who are impaired to the point that they can't keep their car on the road.
"Driving over the center line or driving over the fog line, speeding up slowing down, failing to dim their headlight signal, making wide turns ?all the things in your life that you would normally take for granted that you could usually do without any problem at all, an intoxicated or impaired driver can't control that," Bastien said.
Besides the use of observation, Bastien said cell phones have become an added assistant to identifying drunk drivers.
"Cell phones have been one of our best adversaries in the regards of DUIs, reckless driving and speeding," he said. "In law enforcement, cell phones have been a great asset. We get about four calls a week that give a description of car and license. It gives us some thing to start on."
Bastien said about 20 percent of the drivers who get apprehended from cell phone tips are drunk drivers. He was quick to point out that not everyone is stopped for illegal driving.
"I found tired people, people talking on their cell phones, eating food, putting on makeup, cleaning their nails," Bastien said. "Many things could cause them to make an illegal act on the road, but they are not intoxicated. So therefore you give them a good warning and tell them, 'You need to pull over when you eat your lunch.'"
While his serious approach to law enforcement consumes hours of his time, Bastien is not disconnected to the everyday pleasures of dinner with drinks or having a cocktail on a Friday night.
"When my wife and I eat Mexican food, I want a nice margarita," Bastien said. "My wife, on the other hand, does not drink any thing stronger than Pepsi Cola. If I have one margarita, she drives. That's the way it's been all my life.
"I'm not going to tell you I've never been intoxicated. I have been, but I've never driven. Simply because I don't think I could live with myself if I injured someone else."
Bastien is not a square, but he knows how a good time can change into a situation when critical decision has to be made.
"I like to dance," Bastien said. "We all know how it is when you get some place. You have a beer, the dance floor is heated up, the music is good and the next thing you know you've gotten plum out of hand with alcohol," Bastien said. "That is when you're inner self has to come to life. It is your inner self that controls."
Bastien said if that self-control does not come from wisdom, then it should come from fear.
It is not necessarily a total rejection of alcohol. But it is a total rejection of drinking and driving. The price of getting a cab or a tow truck to take an impaired driver home heavily outweighs the costs of a DUI.
He said if you get behind the wheel, you are going to get caught, go to jail and pay a big bill.
"I'm not one who likes to frighten people in anything I do, but my momma taught me that if you can't take telling, you're gonna take feeling," Bastien said. "And people are starting to feel it.
"We are seeing more and more drunk driver arrests. You're hearing more about it, you see more about it. We get more money for patrolmen. We have more money to work with."
There has also been a change in attitude toward drunk driving and its categorization as a crime.
"DUI is not an accident, it is a crime," Bastien said. "It is a crime; the same as burglary, theft, it is a crime. We are beginning to accept that as a crime. Under the laws today you can't use 'I was drunk' as a defense," Bastien said. "That is your life. That is your responsibility."
Does Bastien think that every intoxicated person he arrests intended to get that way? No, but he thinks they made bad decisions. But there are some drivers Bastien sees who will never have any good intentions when it comes to driving.
"There are diehard drunks out there who drink everyday and they operate their entire lives under the influence of alcohol," Bastien said. "Those people you'll never stop. You can arrest them five times, six times. You'll never stop them. They don't have a driver's license. It doesn't matter. They drive any way."
But do not think he will not keep trying to keep those and all drunk drivers off the road.
"Not everyone intended to get drunk, but it's still a crime," Bastien said. "We're not going to just pat you on the shoulder and send you down the road.
"I am particularly wicked. I have the right to let you call someone to come get you or to release your car to some one else. But I'm pretty much a stickler about driving while drunk. If catch you, I'm going to arrest you."
Nicole Sack can be reached at: nsack@dailyegyptian.com
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