DUIs rise in Costa Mesa

Editor’s note: This is the second part of a two-part series on drunken driving and what Newport-Mesa authorities are doing about the problem. For part one of the series, click here.

Just before his shift on May 31, 2004, Officer Dennis Dickens told his partner they should be careful that evening — they had a close call the previous night when a drunken motorist nearly hit them.

After their shift, Dickens and his partner, Officer Tony Yannizzi, did some overtime. The motorcycle officers rode side-by-side as they merged into the carpool lane from the CA-55 North to the I-405 south.

Without warning, a motorcyclist racing faster than 100 mph hit Dicken’s back wheel, knocking him off his vehicle and into Yannizzi. Dickens tried to grab Yannizzi, but was unable to hold on and slid on the asphalt for hundreds of feet.

The motorcyclist who hit Dickens was drinking.

Dickens hurt his back, his head and retired soon after.

“He is still not in good shape,” Yannizzi said. “It’s getting to the point where everyone knows somebody affected by a drunk driver, especially around here.”

With a steady force of four officers working full time against drunken driving and a decade of focusing on the problem, Costa Mesa has been in full stride against intoxicated driving for sometime. But for years, numbers surrounding DUI haven’t reduced.

Arrests have steadily risen as the department’s officers get better equipment and training. Despite that, the number of alcohol-related collisions hasn’t slowed down, with 223 in 2003 rising to 288 in 2006, according to Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System.

Injuries from those collisions reached new heights with 161 due to alcohol-related collisions in 2006 compared with 100 in 2003.

Newport Beach has 287 on-sale retail liquor licenses — bars and restaurants — while Costa Mesa has 254. Despite the difference, Costa Mesa’s alcohol-related collisions, arrests and injuries far exceed Newport’s. The problem can be partly attributed to the many out-of-towners who pass through Costa Mesa to get to popular drinking locations in Newport Beach.

But the higher figures don’t necessarily mean Costa Mesa has a problem worse than Newport Beach’s.

Costa Mesa’s force has been specially educated and more focused on DUIs for longer than Newport Beach’s. With more experienced officers, they can recognize when alcohol is involved in what appears to be an ordinary collision.

Lt. Steve Shulman of Newport Beach police said that while Newport Beach’s numbers are lower, a better-trained staff could translate to higher figures much like Costa Mesa’s, if there is no change in the drinking culture.

“Whether we were late out of the gate or not, it certainly is on the radar screen now, and we are prepared to tackle the problem,” Newport Beach Lt. Steve Shulman said.

A reason offered by Costa Mesa for high DUI numbers is more people are driving — about 2% more nationally, but some officers offer a simpler solution.

“It’s a continued lack of personal responsibility,” Sgt. Rich Allum said. “It’s like domestic violence, like a relationship that is not going well — people and their alcohol.”

And despite that relationship’s destructive force, the bond seems to be growing tighter.

Substance abuse — including alcohol, narcotics and even prescription drugs — is climbing. The National Institute on Drug Abuse reports in 2004 that 48 million Americans ages 12 or older have used prescription drugs for non-medical reasons in their lifetime. The volume of alcohol consumed by Americans has risen nearly every year for the last 30 years, according to National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. The institute also reports that alcohol-related crashes have risen since 1999 up to 2004, despite declining after the late ’80s.

“Prescription drugs, drugs, alcohol — I don’t know if one is exceeding the other, but they are all there,” said Yannizzi, who has racked up more than 500 DUI busts in his career.

Police continue to raise enforcement measures; but with numbers continuously high, most admit the problem’s roots lie within personal responsibility, and they want to relate that to consumers.

“We are trying to do everything we can to get (the education) out there,” Allum said. “Death is permanent.

“You get home a lot safe, so you think you will be safe every time. But one split second changes a life irreparably.”

DANIEL TEDFORD may be reached at (714) 966-4632 or at [email protected].