Thursday, January 02, 2014

Heavy Police Presence Throughout H Street Corridor on NYE?

48.7thHStreetFestival.NE.WDC.17September2011 Photo by Elvert Barnes

I'm not sure how many people noticed it, but there seemed to be a heavy police presence in the neighborhood surrounding H Street on New Years Eve. That night, in the span of less than ten minutes, I counted six police cruisers out between the H Street bars on the 1200 block and Galludet University, three of which had pulled drivers over to the side of the road.

In 2012, the City Council passed a new law imposing harsher penalties on drivers convicted of driving under the influence, whereby a first-time offender could be jailed up to 180 days and fined up to $1,000.

Did anyone else notice increased police presence?

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I drove all the way from upper Northwest to the Western end of H Street, via Military Rd & N. Capital Street, to around 6th & N...only sign of police I saw was a cruiser stationed along Military Rd. in a zone where everyone picks up speed. Didn't see anything on the western end of H.

DaJuante said...

DC does NOT have a zero tolerance policy - please stop posting misinformation. It has a .05 soft limit, with .05-.08 being a grey area, just like every almost other state. Then at .08, you're screwed. The council passed emergency legislation after that whole one glass of wine fiasco, so the zero tolerance law is no longer applicable.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/18/AR2005101801002.html

Alan Page said...

DaJuante,

I originally wrote "what amounts to a zero tolerance policy", based on a number of factors.
In the interest of avoiding a major debate on the matter (since it's a side issue), I edited the piece to focus on the penalties associated with convictions rather than commenting on how the law is actually enforced in the street.

My advice to you is to avoid drinking and driving in the District.

Cheers,

Alan

Anonymous said...

I have a zero policy for DaJuante's who are tendentious pricks. Totally accurate information right there, brah.

Anonymous said...

You can have a couple of drinks and drive. You'll must likely blow under .08. Around 3-4 beers in an hour.

Anonymous said...

man what a troll, posting accurate information. how dare you!

Anonymous said...

Were there any fights or shootings on New Years?

pat said...

"You can have a couple of drinks and drive. You'll must likely blow under .08. Around 3-4 beers in an hour."

I don't think so, depends how much you weight.