Seen on: Times Union
Saratoga County DWI numbers tick down, but arrests still high compared to other counties
Law enforcement said they are ready for Belmont revelers
This victim’s impact panel, offered 10 months each year, is necessary as Saratoga County once ranked as No. 2, among counties outside of New York City, as having the highest incidents of driving while drunk in the state, according to the Prevention Council, a county-based nonprofit that works to prevent alcohol and substance abuse. The number of DWI arrests has been ticking down, with Saratoga County now ranking No. 12, says Saratoga County District Attorney Karen Heggen, based data from the state Division of Criminal Justice. That’s thanks in part to panels like these, the increasing use of rideshare apps and, County Sheriff Michael Zurlo said, an overall education campaign that focuses on the dangers of drinking and driving.
“I think there is more common sense from people who are out there driving,” said Zurlo, who is also the county’s DWI coordinator. “They know that they shouldn’t be driving while they are drinking. People are getting the message.”
However, with the influx of revelers to the county for the June 6-9 Belmont Stakes weekend, Zurlo and other law enforcement officials know they will have to increase patrols to ensure the party does not spin out of control.
“There will be a lot of people here around Belmont and we will do our best to keep the roadways safe,” Zurlo said. That will include sobriety checkpoints.
Based on numbers from the state Division of Criminal Justice, Saratoga County’s DWI arrests have gone down since the pandemic. But the problem persists there and in other regional counties, like Albany, where the number of arrests is higher than in Saratoga County. From 2014 to 2022, Albany County had 8,257 DWI arrests while Saratoga County had 7,073. Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple said the county needs to do a better job on education.
“A lot of people don’t heed the message,” he said. “We need to get the message out.”
Yet he and Heggen say the number of arrests shows that law enforcement is doing a good job at finding and arresting people who do drink and drive.
The State Office of Addiction Services, which keeps track of motor vehicle and alcohol-related injuries and deaths, noted that Saratoga County has ranked higher than the rest of the state since 2009. But OAS indicated that number dipped below the rest of the state in 2019. Yet according to the National Traffic Highway Administration, alcohol-related fatalities throughout the state are now on the increase from 251 in 2019 to 340 in 2022. It also noted that the majority of the crashes, 62 percent, happen between 6 p.m. and 3 a.m.
At the Victim Impact Panel, each of the 50 participants, men and women of all ages, received a flyer that noted more statistics about the county. For example, a CNY study showed that Saratoga County ties with Rensselaer and Herkimer as having the highest percentage of adults, 24 percent, who report they drink excessively. The information, supplied by the county’s Stop DWI program, also indicated that 19 percent of all driving deaths in Saratoga County from 2016 to 2019 involved alcohol.
Patty Kilgore, a licensed social worker and a credentialed alcohol and substance abuse counselor with the Prevention Council who led the panel, said there are several factors at play in the county’s DWI numbers. For one, she said, there are a lot of rural roads and little opportunity to take public transportation. Janine Stuchin, executive director of the Prevention Council, whose mission is to provide education, information and referral services on alcohol, tobacco and other drug use as well as violence prevention, also noted that the bars throughout the county can stay open until 4 a.m., contributing to the problem. While other counties in the state have mandated earlier closings, Saratoga County officials have been firm in keeping the bars open until 4 a.m., despite years of pleas by elected officials in Saratoga Springs.
“Are people going to drink longer if they can?” Stuchin asked. “Yes, they will.”
The biggest contributor, Kilgore said, is Saratoga County is a tourist attraction. According to the Saratoga County IDA, more than a million people come each year just to visit Saratoga Race Course and an estimated 475,000 visit the Saratoga Performing Arts Center.
“We are not the only tourist attraction in the state, but we are a major attraction,” Kilgore said.
Saratoga Springs Police Lt. Paul Veitch said Saratoga Springs’ many bars and restaurants are “concentrated in the downtown area” of the city. And while there is always a heavy police presence in that area, especially on the weekends, he said arrests occur everywhere in the city.
“Our DWI arrests are fairly consistent,” Veitch said. “But there is an increase during the summer months due to the influx of visitors to the city.”
To keep a lid on Belmont crowds, he said the city will increase patrols during that time. He said he would encourage visitors to use rideshares like Uber and Lyft or call one of the city’s taxi services.
“There is no reason that someone should feel the need to drive while intoxicated,” Veitch wrote in an email. “You may have to wait a little longer to get home, but it is much safer than driving.”
Kilgore acknowledged arrests for DWI have leveled off since the pandemic. And she said the Saratoga County District Attorney’s office “is very strong on jail time if people violate conditions of their release or conditional license.”
Cynthia Szozda, a victim services specialist with the nonprofit Mothers Against Drunk Driving, also credited the Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office and District Attorney Heggen saying the county has the “most stringent” approach to prosecuting DWI cases.
“There is zero tolerance,” Szozda said.
For example, she said a person who is underage and caught drinking and driving will lose their license until they are 21. She also said that the county is strong on probation — which may require successfully completing an alcohol treatment and/or a DMV drinking driver program, refraining from consuming alcohol and remaining arrest-free.
A look at the county’s most recent felony convictions for DWI bears that out. This month, a 40-year-old driver in Saratoga Springs was sentenced to five years of probation. A few days later, another 40-year-old, this one from Troy, received the same sentence. The next day, a 55-year-old from Greenfield was sentenced to one to three years in state prison for DWI.
Heggen said she wouldn’t consider her office tough but rather “fair and consistent” with all cases of DWI. She said the first offense, a misdemeanor, could be reduced to a violation if there are no mitigating circumstances like a prior conviction, a greater than 0.08 blood alcohol content, property damage, crash, fatalities, or children in the car. A second offense in 10 years, however, is a felony-level crime for someone with a previous misdemeanor DWI conviction. If the charge in the first instance was pleaded down to a violation, one might not see jail time until a third conviction. However, she said it all depends on the circumstances.
“We have to look at the facts for each particular case,” she said. “It’s not, ‘you got a plea bargain so now we are not going to talk about the strength or weakness of the case to put you in jail.’ We are saying you are pleading to the charge and to see what the right sentence is to again address underlying reasons for the arrest.”
Of course, many offenders are court-ordered to the Victims Impact Panel where Kilgore said the panel tries to humanize the issue. During the May session, the panel featured two speakers whose lives revolved around drinking and both ended up arrested for DWI. A man who spent most of his life using a wheelchair spoke of how his legs were amputated as a child after a drunk driver plowed into him. He said the driver stole nearly everything in his life — from childhood friends because he couldn’t run around with them to walking his daughter down the aisle on her wedding day.
Assistant District Attorney Kayla Potter also spoke, reminding the drivers of the costs — not just in court and attorney fees, but in potential negative impacts on their employment, marriage and children, as well as the loss of freedom if they lose their license. Morley talked about witnessing drunk driving deaths and how those losses ripple through the hearts and minds of families and friends forever. Kilgore also told her own story of losing her beloved cousin to a drunk driver.
“We want them to get beyond their own personal anger at what has happened,” Kilgore said. “People get angry, they blame circumstances or somebody else. We try to drive home the point that they were impaired behind the wheel. They want to make it out as it’s no big deal because they didn’t kill anybody. They were lucky they didn’t.”
It seemed to work for some. Many hung their heads as the victims spoke. Others wept. But Kilgore reminded those in the audience that one in three will be back. Moreover, some of the people who came to the panel were intoxicated and had to be turned away. One was re-arrested on the spot.
Heggen emphasized it doesn’t have to be that way and that drinking and driving is a choice.
“This is the most preventable crime that there is,” Heggen said. “If you are intoxicated behind the wheel, you made the choice.”
She also said that when traffic stops and arrests are made all of it is recorded by police body cameras, making a driver’s actions almost undeniable.
“It’s not just the officer who says you were unable to do the walk and turn or the one-leg stand or slurring your speech or fumbling in your wallet,” she said. “All of those things are recorded.”
With the legalization of cannabis, as well as prescription and illegal drug use, law enforcement has to concern itself with drivers who are impaired by more than just alcohol.
Meanwhile, Zurlo said the state is headed into the 100 deadliest days of the year — from June to August — when Stop DWI New York estimates 27 percent of the summer crashes in the state — which amounted to about 2,747 in 2021 — are due to impaired drivers.
Considering all that and Belmont, too, Zurlo and Veitch know it’s a challenge but promised “we will be ready.”
“With our law enforcement partners, we have the resources to make sure we are keeping everyone safe,” Zurlo said.