Our Redondo Beach drunk driving criminal defense lawyers were disappointed to see a recent article about an unusual step being considered by the Huntington Beach Police Department. The Huntington Beach Independent reported July 28 that the police are considering posting mug shots and names of people arrested in the city for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The idea is one of several floated by law enforcement to combat high rates of DUIs, along with adding another officer to the DUI enforcement team. The city made an average of 1,700 intoxicated driving arrests in the past three years, the report said, and Huntington Beach had the third-highest rate of DUI arrests for cities of similar size in 2008. A police spokesman said the goal would be to show that the city takes drunk driving seriously.
Law enforcement in Huntington Beach has already increased its enforcement efforts in order to stop alcohol-related crashes before they take place. In March, for example, officers began investigating where DUI arrestees had their last drinks before being arrested, then notifying those establishments about the arrests. The proposal to put mug shots online, submitted in July, comes after the Independent itself stopped publishing mug shots in December, a decision that stemmed from a change in editorial policy. Critics object to the practice say it blurs the distinction between an arrest and a conviction. If someone is accused of DUI and the charges are later dropped or dismissed, they note, that person could still be publicly identified as a "drunk driver," inviting embarrassment and consequences at work. A police spokesman said the goal is not to shame the arrestees, but to raise public awareness that the city takes DUIs seriously.
As Yorba Linda DUI criminal defense attorneys, we are not sure we believe this. While we certainly support raising public awareness of the dangers of drunk driving, we don't believe posting mug shots online achieves that goal. The mug shots would be on a website that Web users don't have a lot of other reasons to visit, and that means the viewers would most likely be people who already knew the mug shots were there. This does not raise awareness so much as it allows people who enjoy looking over mug shots to continue doing so. Shaming may not be the explicit goal of such a site, but it would certainly be a side effect. And in doing so, the site would unfairly imply that people who are arrested have been convicted, leaving them no way to clear their names. We wouldn't be surprised to learn that this objection is the reason for the decision to stop running mug shots on the newspaper site.
If you've been arrested for intoxicated driving, you should call Howard Law, P.C. for help. Even if they aren't publicly embarrassed by a similar mug shot scheme, people facing a DUI charge have a lot to lose. Right away, law enforcement can take away your driver's license, and you have just 10 days to request a hearing before that decision is made permanent. A drunk driving conviction, which is entirely separate from this hearing, could lead to jail or probation, thousands of dollars in fines and fees, alcohol education classes, community service and more. Our Mission Viejo drunk driving criminal defense lawyers vigorously defend clients from these and other penalties, helping protect them from police mistakes and overreaching whenever it exists.
Howard Law, P.C. offers free, confidential consultations, so you can talk to us about your case at no further obligation. To set one up, call us today at 1-800-872-5925 or send us a message online.
