Spike in instances of repeat DUI offenses elevates debate in Tennessee
Posted on:8/4/2009
Written By: Chris Robideaux
| The already hot topic of DUI laws nationwide has heated up significantly, with the debate on drunken driving laws in Tennessee increasing, due to significant instances of repeat offenders. |
The already hot topic of DUI laws nationwide has heated up significantly, with the debate on drunken driving laws in Tennessee increasing, due to significant instances of repeat offenders. For her part, Betty Campbell was tired of the cycle: arrested for drunken driving, incarcerated and released, only to do it again. She was arrested 13 times before she began to receive treatment through a court program, she said. "I just wanted to experience life sober," she said during a break from her job tagging clothes at a Goodwill center in Nashville. "I don't want to go back to that. I would tell people to get help."
Campbell's battle with alcoholism, and specifically drunken driving, is emblematic of the recidivism rate for DUI offenders.
A five-year Tennessee Bureau of Investigation study released Monday shows that 21 percent of people — nearly 30,000 — charged with DUI were arrested again on the same charge.
That's the highest rate of repeat arrests found in the TBI report, which compared recidivism for DUI, robbery and rape.
There were 137,183 people arrested and charged with DUI statewide between 2002-07. There were 11,549 arrests for robberies during that same period, and a 16 percent rate of recidivism. Rape had the lowest recidivism rate in the study at 6 percent, among 3,483 arrests. The report was funded by a federal grant, TBI spokeswoman Kristin Helm said.