SAME OLD, SAME OLD

For those who thought that WCPD would be less busy once the University's spring semester concluded, think again...

Last night had the makings of a relatively quite night in the borough, however several incidents in all corners of town threw cold water on that theory. WCPD reportedly made at least 4 DUI arrests and no fewer than 8 Public Drunkeness arrests as the bars were letting out. Apparently, the DUI's weren't just limited to West Chester as reports of at least 5 additional DUI arrests amongst Birmingham, West Goshen, and West Whiteland kept the ER at Chester County Hospital (where blood is drawn from drivers suspected of being under the influence of drugs or alcohol are taken after being arrested) very busy. As of yet, the suspected DUI cases have yet to be filed in the respective District Courts (or, if they've been filed, have yet to be posted publicly on the AOPC web site).

For those keeping track, as of this posting (and based on available records as of Thursday afternoon), there have been 78 DUI cases filed by WCPD in the three district courts - 31 in Judge Bruno's court (not counting 2 DUI cases filed there by WCU Police), 44 in Judge Knapp's court, and 3 in Judge Arnold's court (from East Bradford). When the additional cases are confirmed, this will likely boost the totals towards what could be yet another record number of DUI arrests.

Thus far, Squad 2 - which was in service last night - has logged 22 DUI arrests in the three courts as of the most recent review of court data (and not including potential cases that have been filed but not publically posted). Two officers within this particular squad - P/O Jeffrey Gallo and P/O Rey Melendez - have made 7 DUI arrests each so far this year. However, P/O William Viebahn - presently assigned to Squad 1 - has logged 9 DUI arrests this year.

And the word is that WCPD officers are not neccesarily specifically setting up checkpoints or staging at particular hot spots (and this, to be fair, is mainly because of the high volume of bar and neighborhood complaints that are called in on busy nights). It tends to be more of a reflection on the stupidity of most of these motorists and restaurant/bar patrons who don't exactly have a good handle on alcohol.

Still, 78 DUI arrests within the first five months (presumably with more to follow by the time the holiday weekend reaches its end - there are, after all, 6 days remaining in the month of May) is one impressive statistic...