Sustained Enforcement

What is the Sustained Enforcement Program?

The goal of the Florida DUI Sustained Enforcement Program is to reduce the number of alcohol-related fatalities, injuries, and crashes occur on Florida's roadways by conducting high visibility DUI enforcement operations and increasing public awareness of the state's alcohol- related crash problem.

The Florida DUI Sustained Enforcement Program supports this goal by rewarding agencies for conducting high visibility DUI enforcement operations. The Florida Department of Transportation (F.D.O.T.) Safety Office has established a reward program with four levels of participation. Each law enforcement agency can select the level of participation that fits its manpower availability. The Law Enforcement Liaison Program collects monthly reports filed by the participating agencies, determines what participation level each agency has met at the end of the calendar year, and provides access to an online electronic equipment catalog. Agencies can select DUI enforcement equipment, based on the participation points that they have earned, directly from the online catalog.

Why do the F.D.O.T. and N.H.T.S.A. do this?

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (N.H.T.S.A.) created the Strategic Evaluation States Program in 2003. Florida was asked to participate in this demonstration program and the F.D.O.T. Safety Office created the DUI Sustained Enforcement Program as part of the implementation plan for the program. Tallahassee Community College handles the day-to-day coordination of the DUI Sustained Enforcement Program through the Law Enforcement Liaison program.

The DUI Sustained Enforcement Program was piloted in 10 counties during fiscal year 2003. Since the program's beginning it has grown and will include 35 counties in 2009. The N.H.T.S.A. discontinued the Strategic Evaluation States Program at the end of FY 2006; however, due the success of the program, the F.D.O.T. Safety Office decided to continue the funding and expand the Florida's DUI Sustained Enforcement Program.

Law enforcement agencies within the counties named below will be eligible participate in the Florida DUI Sustained Enforcement Program in calendar year 2009 based upon the rankings in the 2008 traffic safety matrix for each population category and the five counties with a historically high number of alcohol-related fatalities, injuries and crashes. The eligible counties are listed alphabetically below.

2009 DUI Sustained Enforcement Eligible County List

Historically High Counties

-Brevard
-Broward
-Duval
-Miami-Dade
-Palm Beach

Counties over 200,000 Population

-Escambia
-Hillsborough
-Lee
-Leon
-Manatee
-Orange
-Pasco
-Pinellas
-Polk
Volusia

Counties 50,000 to 199,999 Population

-Bay
-Columbia
-Hernando
-Indian River
-Monroe
-Okaloosa
-Putnam
-Santa Rosa
-St. Johns
-Walton

Counties under 49,999 Population

-Gadsden
-Dixie
-Okeechobee
-Levy
-Taylor
-Hendry
-DeSoto
-Franklin
-Glades
-Hardee

Eligible agencies will be required to submit a notice of participation to the F.D.O.T. Safety Office. Upon acceptance of the notice of participation the F.D.O.T. Safety Office will provide the Agency with access to the reporting website.

Please note: Agencies receiving alcohol grant funds for either federal fiscal year 2009 or 2010 from the F.D.O.T. Safety Office will not be eligible to participate in Florida DUI Sustained Enforcement Program.

DUI Enforcement Activity Points

The Sustained Enforcement Program has been modified for 2009. The number of levels of participation has been changed from eight to four. The system used to determine the participation levels has also changed. Participating agencies will earn points for their participation in DUI enforcement activities as follows:

-Conduct/Host DUI checkpoint — 100 points
-Saturation Patrol — 20 points
-Attend Checkpoint hosted by other agency — 10 points

Participation Levels

-Platinum — 6000 DUI Enforcement Activity Points Earned
-Gold — 4000 DUI Enforcement Activity Points Earned
-Silver — 2000 DUI Enforcement Activity Points Earned
-Bronze — 1000 DUI Enforcement Activity Points Earned

Please note that DUI enforcement activity points earned are not the same as reward points awarded in the four levels listed below. DUI enforcement activity points are only used to determine the level of participation in DUI enforcement activities.

Reward Levels

Each law enforcement agency participating in the program will earn points based on its level of participation during the calendar year 2009.

Participating agencies will be able to select enforcement equipment from an online electronic catalog published by the Florida DUI Sustained Enforcement Program as a reward for its participation. A point value will be assigned to each piece of equipment, and the agency can select one or more items totaling no more than the maximum value of the participation level they achieved.

-Platinum Level Award $15,000
-Gold Level Award $10,000
-Silver Level Award $5,000
-Bronze Level Award $2,500

Additional Rewards

In addition to the regular program rewards, all agencies that qualify at the Bronze or Silver levels will be eligible for a random drawing(s) for equipment as determined by the LEL program suitable for DUI Sustained Enforcement . All agencies that qualify at the Platinum or Gold levels will be eligible for a random drawing for one fully equipped vehicle to be used exclusively for DUI enforcement by the winning agency.

Monthly Reporting

The Law Enforcement Liaison program in partnership with the F.D.O.T. Safety Office will coordinate the Florida DUI Sustained Enforcement Program's monthly agency reporting. The monthly report form requests information that the F.D.O.T. Safety Office will use when requesting additional funds from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (N.H.T.S.A.). The report form is internet based and will be filed electronically with both the F.D.O.T. Safety Office and Tallahassee Community College. A link to the monthly report is located at www.floridalel.org. Monthly reports are due by the 10th day following the end of each calendar month. Agencies failing to report two months of activity during the year will be eliminated from the current year's program and lose any accumulated reward points earned. Agencies will receive an electronic reminder generated automatically two days prior to the report's due date. There will be no exceptions to this requirement.

After Action Reports

Agencies must send copies of their DUI Checkpoint After Action Report to Tallahassee Community College to document their checkpoints and provide data needed when the state applies for Federal funding. The After Action Reports can be sent electronically to the Sustained Enforcement Program Coordinator via attachment to electronic mail or mailed directly to Tallahassee Community College at the address provided below. These After Action Reports provide information that the state must have when seeking DUI enforcement funds from N.H.T.S.A. and to document/verify that the checkpoints were held.

Definitions

Saturation Patrol

A saturation patrol is an operation in which several officers are assigned to DUI enforcement duties within a defined area of the agency's jurisdiction where alcohol related crashes occur. The selection of the enforcement area must be data driven and identified as a high crash area. A saturation patrol must meet the minimum staffing guidelines:

-Minimum of one officer assigned for agencies with less than 20 sworn officers.
-Minimum of two officers assigned for agencies with 21-50 sworn officers
-Minimum of three officers assigned for agencies with 51-100 sworn officers
-Minimum of four officers assigned for agencies with more than 100 sworn officers.

A saturation patrol shall operate for a minimum of four hours between 7:00 pm to 4:00 am, unless all officers assigned to the operation are processing DUI arrests at the same time. A press release shall be sent to local media at least two days prior to the saturation patrol to promote public awareness of the enforcement activity. Press releases may be made for multiple notices of saturation patrols. Agencies will not be credited for more than one saturation patrol per day. A day is defined as between the hours of 7:00 pm to 4:00 am.

DUI Checkpoint

A DUI Checkpoint is defined as a roadblock in which motorists are stopped and checked for signs of impairment. A detailed operational plan, which includes the pattern used for stopping motorists, must be developed for the event as required by the Florida Supreme Court in Jones v. State. The operational plan must be written by the agency that is conducting the checkpoint. A pre-checkpoint briefing must be held prior to the event with all personnel working the checkpoint in attendance. DUI checkpoints can involve as few as five sworn officers and low manpower checkpoints are encouraged. A press release shall be sent to local media at least two days prior to meet the notice requirement in Jones v. State. To receive credit towards sustained enforcement, checkpoints must be conducted between 7:00 p.m. – 4:00 a.m. on a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday and may be conducted on major holidays. Agencies must request waivers to hold checkpoints during the week in conjunction with special events. Waivers must be requested in writing and will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Request for a waiver must be received two weeks prior to the planned enforcement event.

You can apply online.