Richfield's DWI Officer Gives Year-End Update

Richfield is fortunate enough to have a dedicated DWI patrol. "Officer Johnson" began as Richfield Police Department’s first dedicated full-time DWI patroller in July of 2015

Johnson had already racked up the most impaired driver arrests in the department before she was named to the dedicated DWI patrol, the Sun Current reported. Her job as a DWI patroller was made possible by a grant from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.

In a recent update on her work that was posted to Facebook, Johnson said she made 80 DWI arrests and at least 58 other arrests in 2016.

"That’s over 100 self-initiated arrests that, without this grant and an officer dedicated to DWI enforcement, would not have happened. Arrests included: Warrants, drugs (including amounts to sell), stolen vehicles, assault, false information, driving without insurance, sex offender registration noncompliance, etc," Johnson said.

"The vast majority of these stops originated from a simple traffic or equipment violation and expanded from that. For example, a stop for a wide turn (typically associated with impaired driving) is a relatively small mistake. That stop found a driver impaired by methamphetamine, in possession of a handgun, with drug paraphernalia and multiple schedule II pills that the driver did not have a prescription for. Based on the scale and other paraphernalia in the vehicle, it appeared that the driver was dealing drugs."

"When officers stop drivers for seemingly minor things, they are not only trying to correct the issue and help out, but are also looking for the bigger crimes occurring. Vehicles are the main way that drugs and criminals get from point A to point B and it’s our job to do our best to intercept them!"

Image via City of Richfield