Tyler — Tyler Police Department will participate in the Labor Day Holiday “No Refusal” enforcement campaign for this Labor Day Holiday.

Since January 1, 2011 to present date, Tyler Police Department has arrested 283 drivers for DWI. Reports indicate that seven persons have died in a crash where alcohol was related this year and 27 persons have been injured.

Law enforcement agencies in Smith County will be out in force during the Labor Day Holiday on the lookout for intoxicated drivers on our streets, highways, and area lakes. Officers won’t be taking “NO” for an answer once again. The No-Refusal initiative will run Friday, September 2, thru Monday, September 5, 2011.

A multi-joint effort between the Smith County District Attorney’s Office and police agencies from all over Smith County will participate in the ‘No-Refusal’ D.W.I Campaign. Upon the arrest of a suspected drunk driver, he or she will be asked if they would submit to blow into a breath-test instrument or take a blood test. If the driver refuses and says “No” to a test, officers will obtain an immediate search warrant signed by an on-call judge to have blood drawn by a certified nurse on staff at the Smith County Jail. The blood will then be analyzed to determine whether the driver’s blood-alcohol concentration is 0.08 or higher, the legal limit for driving in Texas.

It is the intent of all law enforcement agencies that this joint effort will act as a deterrent, persuading people to avoid driving while intoxicated because they know that police officers will be determining sobriety with or without the driver’s consent.
 

Information from Tyler Police Department