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Harris Co. leading nation in DWI deaths
Authorities are teaming up to crack down on drunk drivers this New Year's Eve weekend. FOX 26 Reporter Damali Keith has more.
HOUSTON - This weekend is New Year's Eve. Unfortunately, that often means more people getting behind the wheel drunk. So law enforcement officers are trying something new this year to get impaired drivers off the road.
"The focus this weekend by all of law enforcement in Harris County and even some surrounding jurisdictions, like Fort Bend, is on preventing DWI deaths," explains Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg.
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Ringing in a new year is certainly something to celebrate, and this new initiative is designed to make sure everyone does so responsibly.
"We have coordinated more than 20 law enforcement agencies. Together, they'll be working with the DA's office to file charges on any suspected drunk drivers," Ogg adds.
As we head into this holiday weekend, it is a reminder of the terrible title Houston has held for a decade now, leading the country in DWI deaths. "The fact that we've been number one for the last ten years in drunk driving deaths is sickening," says Ogg.
The statistics are staggering of just how many people choose to drink alcohol and drive every year.
"We had 11,900 DWI's filed. It's the second-most committed crime in Harris County," Ogg explains.
Although numbers help explain the astronomical amount of arrests and DWI deaths, the figures don't even begin to reveal the pain loved ones are left with.
"One of my favorite things to do is sleep because I get to dream, and often I dream of my sister. She was my best friend, and in my dreams I get to see her," says Jocelyn Fowler, whose sister Jennifer Chavis was killed by a suspected drunk driver.
"This is Jennifer," Tanya Childress says, holding up a picture of her daughter. "You know, this is how we carry Jennifer with us when we go places now. We have pictures".
Harris County Precinct 7 Deputy Constable Jennifer Chavis was killed last year by a suspected drunk driver who was captured on video swerving all over Beltway 8 in the middle of the day. Moments later, he smashed into the back of Deputy Chavis' patrol vehicle, and it burst into flames. Adolfo Serrano has been charged with Intoxication Manslaughter of a Public Servant, yet another DWI death, which Ogg calls completely avoidable.
"Why take the risk with a 100% preventable crime? Their lives are irreparably changed and often ruined, and for the families of the victims, they can never really recover what they lost," says Ogg.
"Call an Uber. Call a Lyft. Some people say, well it's expensive. Well, you know what's expensive? Funerals, attorneys," Fowler adds.
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In hopes of avoiding such heartbreak this holiday, 20 area law enforcement agencies are coming together for a no-refusal weekend.
"There will be hundreds of officers working together, dispatched out on the streets, working with our DA's out in the field to catch more drunks before they hurt themselves or other people. So there's a greater chance this weekend of being caught for drunk driving than ever before in Harris County," says Ogg. "This weekend is a no-refusal weekend, meaning once a police officer stops somebody, and they believe they smell alcohol, and have reason to believe that driver may be drunk, our prosecutors will be in the field writing warrants, getting them to a judge who's on duty. Blood evidence is the strongest, and it's the most authentic way of proving whether somebody really was intoxicated, and that blood will be taken with consent or not. The object is to save lives".