Serious Traffic Offenses
Balancing Privacy and Protection: Tennessee Law Enforcement’s Use of Body Cameras and Dash Cams
In October of 2014, 17-year-old Laquan McDonald was shot 16 times and killed by a police officer in Chicago. The whole event was captured on the dashboard camera of another police patrol car on the scene. The dash cam footage was not released until November 2015, which is 13 months after the incident. The footage…
Read MoreTennessee Increases the Number of DUI Arrests
The numbers are in from 2014, and DUI arrests are on the rise in Tennessee. A recent report by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation states that 29,544 were arrested in 2014 for DUI, an increase of 639 people from 2013. Of the cases which went through the court system, 88% were either convicted of DUI…
Read MoreThe Results Are in From the “No Refusal” Safety Campaign
During the New Year weekend, the Tennessee Highway Patrol conducted a “no refusal” safety campaign. The campaign allowed troopers to call a judge on the phone to obtain a warrant for a blood test for any drivers who refused a breath test after being stopped for suspicion of DUI. The THP set up sobriety and…
Read MoreDriving Drunk? Please Don’t Bring the Kids Along
Driving drunk with kids in the car is child endangerment. According to Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD),20% of children aged 14 and younger who were killed in auto accidents in 2012 were killed in alcohol-impaired crashes. MADD says that drunk driving with a child in the car elevates this criminal act to child abuse. In…
Read MoreNew Texting Gun Would Catch Drivers Texting Behind the Wheel
Texting while driving is a threat to safety on the road that is growing more and more significant as more people think that they can get away with texting behind the wheel, according to the National Highway & Traffic Safety Administration NHTSA website distraction.gov. Texting behind the wheel causes more impairment than drinking and driving.…
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