First of all, let’s just clarify those acronyms in the above blog headline. They serve as abbreviated descriptors for the Colorado Department of Transportation and the Colorado State Patrol, respectively.
You might have already known that if you’re a Colorado motorist. And you might be just as familiar with the shorthand designations and/or other titles of additional law-enforcement groups that span the state.
Those entities often operate in distinctly independent fashion, but they band together and work in close concert several times throughout each year.
Sixteen times, to be exact, with their unified focus being narrowly aimed each time.
Their bull’s-eye target is this: impaired drivers.
From one campaign to the next: Truly, The Heat Is On
Colorado is far from a passive player when it comes to participating in anti-DUI initiatives. The above-cited Heat Is On campaign is a perennial happening across the state multiple times annually. It is no stretch to say that police organizations wrap up one Heat program and almost immediately commence a new one several times each year.
The present is a case in point. Media outlets spanning Colorado are now reporting statewide arrest totals linked with the recently concluded autumn DUI campaign. Here are a few relevant statistics linked with that exercise, which will be followed upon shortly by a year-ending holiday blitz:
- Participation from close to100 enforcement agencies
- Nearly 1,400 DUI arrests
- More than 29 arrests each day on average over the course of the campaign
- More than 140 people criminally charged in the Denver area alone
The focus on behind-the-wheel impairment and ultimate securing of criminal convictions is obvious and unrelenting during Colorado’s repeat DUI crackdowns. So too is the emphasis on legal outcomes that are harsh and even life-upending.
Relevant data concerning Colorado drunk driving penalties
There is no way to sugarcoat the stringent nature of Colorado legal penalties linked to a drunk driving charge. Even a first offense can yield an outcome that includes the following and additional penalties:
- Jail time of up to one year
- Multi-year probationary period
- Imposed community service
- Mandatory participation in alcohol/drug program
- License suspension/revocation
- Fines, fees and additional costs that can run into thousands of dollars
- Ignition interlock installation
Of course, a number of other downsides can also feature. An unquestioned stigma attaches to a drunk driving conviction. Job/career prospects might be put on hold or even imperiled. The opportunity to attend a certain school or engage in military service might be curtailed.
Adverse legal outcomes linked to a DUI conviction in Colorado can be flatly severe. An individual facing a drunk driving charge might reasonably want to secure proven and aggressive legal counsel without delay.