Pulled Over In New Jersey: How The Police Agency And Location Can Affect Your DWI Case
Where and who pulls you over for suspected drunk driving matters more than you might realize. This article dives into the topic of location and agency relevance for DWI stops in New Jersey, including:
- Why it matters which agency pulls you over for erratic driving in New Jersey.
- How location affects DWI cases and arrests in New Jersey.
- How timing, such as holiday seasons, can affect your arrest chances.
Does It Matter Which Agency Pulls Me Over (Highway Patrol Vs. Local Vs. Sheriff)?
When it comes to Driving While Intoxicated investigations, it can matter a great deal which police or law enforcement agency is involved.
State Police
Generally speaking, the New Jersey State Police are fairly well-trained in DWI detection and standardized field sobriety testing. For the most part, state troopers will go through at least a five-day training course outside of their academy, training which specifically involves the detection of alcohol or drug-impaired drivers.
Beyond that, some police officers or state troopers will have done more specialized training, which could involve DRE training or ARIDE training. Both of those training programs are focused on drugged driving offenses for the local police department. I think fewer police officers go through the alcohol DWI training than State Police officers, but many more are being trained today than in the past. 20 years ago, very few local officers received formal state police training.
20 years ago, DWI defense lawyers rarely brought in experts or advanced defenses, so DAs may be pushing for more funding for DWI detection and training to compensate for the current increase in skill and resources for DWI defense.
Local Police
Given that state police are generally the better-trained department, you might have better luck being stopped by local law enforcement. However, that depends on the police department and whether they use their budget to send officers to training programs.
Attorney Kevin Leckerman is a highly experienced New Jersey DWI defense lawyer who has handled thousands of impaired driving cases. If you need to get DWI charges against you lowered or dropped, he has had nearly 30 years of practice doing just that against every police force imaginable.
No matter where you have been pulled over or arrested in New Jersey, contact Leckerman Law today to schedule an initial defense consultation.
The Sheriff’s Department
In general, the Sheriff’s Department is not as well-trained as local police departments or state police. They often have officers who are unaware of the standardized field sobriety testing procedures or the telltale signs of intoxication.
They will usually just get on-the-job training from fellow police officers or Sheriff’s Department officers. As a result, it can be much easier to defend cases after being stopped by a Sheriff’s Department or a bridge authority police officer.
Port Authority Officers
Though, of course, some Port Authority officers that I have come across at the Delaware Port Authority that deal with many of the bridges throughout the South Jersey, Camden and Burlington County areas get pretty extensive training, especially when compared to Sheriff’s Department officers.
Aside: DWI Experts For The Defense
DWI experts are almost all former state troopers or local police officers who were responsible for training fellow police officers in DWI detection, field sobriety testing and the operation of breath testing devices. Some of the best-trained DWI experts were State Police coordinators who ran part or all of the DWI testing training program for the state of New Jersey.
These DWI experts retired from the local or state police forces, and have become private defense expert witnesses. The people we call on are absolutely the most knowledgeable and best trained with regard to field sobriety testing and breath testing.
It is a major advantage for any defendant to have a defense attorney who has connections with exceptional and respected DWI experts.
Does Location Affect My Likelihood Of Being Pulled Over?
Well, there are certain days when you are definitely going to find a lot of police officers on a certain stretch of road, basically any time a State Police troop unit is sent out to do speed traps or DWI sweeps. Certain phone apps with maps sometimes signal or point out these locations in real time.
These stake trooper units will most likely be sent out to do traffic enforcement, whether speed detection enforcement or registration violations, perhaps running licenses in order to determine if the driver is suspended. I have often seen just a number of police officers being sent out at a particular time on a particular date, whereas on the next day, there’s no Trooper to be seen on a particular stretch of roadway.
How Do Holidays And Special Enforcement Periods Like New Year’s Eve Affect Your Risk?
During the holidays, you are going to see a lot more state troopers overall. In addition, if a local establishment is known to have a number of intoxicated drivers leaving around a specific time, that is going to draw local police attention and presence rather than state police.
Keep in mind as well that there are many small jurisdictions that don’t have a lot of crime, so the police officers on a weekend night are definitely out looking for drunk drivers. There just isn’t anything else to look for in some of these smaller jurisdictions except traffic offenses, drunk driving, speeding, or failing to maintain a lane.
No matter where, when, or who pulls you over for DWI, you need a good defense lawyer.
For more information on New Jersey DWI stops and arrests, an initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (856) 429-2323 today.