Hopkinton Rookie Officer Honored by MADD

Mothers Against Drunk Driving Massachusetts awarded rookie Hopkinton Police Officer Peter Booth its Drive for Life award for his work against drunk driving in Hopkinton.

Selectmen recognized Booth's award at the start of their meeting on May 31. Officer Booth was not in attendance.

Booth was one of 32 state and municipal police officers to receive the award this year.

Police Chief Richard Flannery attended the selectmen's meeting to praise Booth. Asked what makes one officer more committed to drunk-driving prevention than another, Flannery said in Booth's case, he received the award because he had made 24 drunk driving arrests last year. 

That was more than any other Hopkinton police officer. Last year was Booth's first as a Hopkinton police officer.

Selectman Brian Herr said the award was an opportunity to talk about drunk-driving laws, and asked Flannery to generally outline them for the selectmen's audience, how many glasses of wine, for instance, a person can have before being considered legally unable to operate a car.

Flannery said those types of assessments depend on the individual, but the best advice is, "Don't drink and drive."

State law, Flannery said, presumes a person who has a blood-alcohol level of .08 is presumed to be legally impaired.

A person with a blood-alcohol level of .06 can be arrested for operating under the influence and have a determination made at trial whether or not he or she was impaired.

A person under 21, Flannery said, who has a .02 blood-alchol level can be arrested.

Booth received the award in a ceremony in Boston on May 18.