three-man team
Police unit to beef
up assault on DWI
In first four weeks
three-man team
Thomas W. Finn
made 42 arrests in E.B.
By vincent todaro
Staff Writer
Long known for their vigilance in cracking down on drunken driving in East Brunswick, police officials have recently stepped up their enforcement efforts even further.
Department officials an-nounced during a press conference Aug. 15 that they have created a DWI Enforcement Team, which will consist of two patrol officers and a sergeant. The team’s sole assignment will be the enforcement of driving-while-intoxicated laws in East Brunswick.
Thomas Finn, the township’s chief of police and director of public safety, said the team is working Tuesdays through Saturdays from 8 p.m. until 4 a.m. The officers are on the road in marked cars.
"Their sole responsibility is to arrest drunk drivers," he said.
The members of the team, which started its detail on July 16, include Sgt. Alan Quercia, a 15-year department veteran; Patrolman Joseph Marcantonio, a 12-year veteran; and Patrolman Eric Woods, who has been with the department for four years.
The officers are all well-trained in the area of DWI enforcement and are certified as drug-recognition experts, according to information provided by the police department.
Finn said the team was created because the department had three extra officers, hired earlier this summer with a federal COPS grant. The grant gets the township $120,000 per year for three years to pay for the new officers. A sergeant approached Finn with the idea to use them for the DWI unit. He said it was a "golden opportunity" for the three men to use their knowledge of DWI arrests and enforcement.
He said that, while the township has always seen a large rate of DWI arrests, there are even more drunken drivers who escape detection. Finn said many of the people who drive drunk on township roads are those who get off work, go to a bar for few drinks and then find themselves behind the wheel.
To that end, about half of the DWI arrests in the township are made before midnight, he said. Many of those arrested are drivers who originated in other communities that have more bars than East Brunswick, such as South River and Sayreville. Many of them use major highways such as Route 18 to get home, and East Brunswick police wind up arresting many people who never had a drink in the township.
Finn noted that defense attorneys have told him the word is out about East Brunswick’s DWI enforcement. The attorneys said their clients have told them, "If you’re drunk, go around East Brunswick or you’re going to get caught."
In July, the department as a whole made 67 DWI arrests — more than half that which would occur on the average month previously.
Of those arrests, 31 were made by the DWI team, he said. The unit made a total of 42 arrests in its first four weeks, along with 16 other arrests on criminal charges, and it issued 201 motor vehicle summonses.
According to Finn, making 67 DWI arrests in a single month "is unheard of."
"It’s a phenomenal increase," he said, noting that the average four-week period previously saw about 25 DWI arrests.
He said he believes the department’s total number of yearly DWI arrests will double with the new unit.
Having been at the scenes of DWI-related accidents, and having notified families that loved ones have been the victims of fatal accidents, Finn said he is very aware of the human impact of DWI and he can proudly state that making nearly 400 DWI arrests in 2001 may have prevented further tragedies.
"I’d like to think we saved at least one person," he said.
Officials believed it was important to use the extra officers for a DWI unit because drinking-related accidents are crimes against people, unlike a burglary or shoplifting unit that focuses on crimes against property.
"Crimes against people are primary crimes," he said, referring to the direct human impact.
While some DWI suspects also wind up getting arrested on additional charges such as having false identification or an open container of alcohol, most do not lead police to drug offenders or serious criminals, he said.
Still, the arrests are valuable law enforcement tools.
"It gives you the opportunity to look further and deeper to see if there’s something else there," he said.
Police are trained to know the clues that can lead to the detection of a drunken driver, but residents can also use common sense in helping to get those under the influence off the road. Finn said some of the main clues to watch for are wide turns, tailgating, speeding, driving with no head lights on and weaving in and out of the lane.
He said people should not drive up to a vehicle they suspect might be driven by a drunk person, but they should instead call the police.
"If you think someone’s drunk, call us," he said. "Cell phones have helped us tremendously in enforcement."

