Driving under the influence is a dangerous and reckless activity that can ruin far more lives than just the intoxicated driver. It’s why so many jurisdictions across America take driving under the influence very seriously. A DUI can destroy your finances, your employment, and future opportunities, but you don’t have to worry about that so long as you drive sober, right? Sadly, as at least 2,547 drivers in Tennessee have learned the hard way from 2017 to 2023, you can be legally sober and still catch a DUI.
This story caught our attention as it spread across the news and social media. Many Americans are learning that false DUI arrests are a thing, and this revelation is thanks to the excellent reporters at WSMV4 in Nashville, Tennessee. The station has a long-running investigation into false DUI arrests in Tennessee and across America, and its results have been sobering.
In 2022, WSMV4 Investigates launched “Sobering Problem.” It’s an excellent series of investigative journalism that deserves some time in the spotlight. Here’s how the station describes it:
Every day, officers in Tennessee pull over and arrest drivers believed to be under the influence. But what happens to those who aren’t intoxicated?
Since 2022, WSMV4 Investigates’ “Sobering Problem” series has exposed a troubling trend of sober Tennessee drivers being wrongfully arrested for DUI. Chief Investigator Jeremy Finley uncovered a lengthy delay in blood tests that destroyed the lives of sober drivers while they waited to be proven innocent.
The shocking discoveries went on to spur the creation of a new state law and earn a Regional Edward R. Murrow Award.
It Started With A Mom
WSMV4 was first alerted to something suspicious with Tennessee’s DUI arrests back in 2022. On June 20, 2022, the outlet published a story with the headline “Blood test shows woman charged with DUI/felony child neglect was sober at time of arrest.” The video is embedded above. Here’s what the story stated:
After working 41 hours in three days caring for COVID patients, Katie Slayton had the day off on Sept. 22, 2021. A single mother of a five-year-old son, the Williamson County nurse had dropped him off at daycare that evening so she could run to the mall. A few hours later, she picked him up and prepared to pull out of the parking spot when she saw police lights directly behind her.
What would happen next would result in devastating consequences: charges of DUI and felony child neglect, separation from her son for nine weeks, and an agonizing six months of waiting for blood test results. A test that would ultimately show she was sober the entire time. “(Franklin police) have traumatized my son; they have traumatized me. They have driven a nurse, with a clean record in 3 states, right out of Franklin, Tennessee,” Slayton said.
In the story, WSMV4 explains that Slayton’s nightmare started after a worker at the daycare called the police, saying that Slayton seemed “off.” Reportedly, the worker told police that Slayton was talking to herself, walking in circles, and scratching her head.
Police would make contact with Slayton, and she explained that she was sober. She even agreed to a field sobriety test. Likewise, an officer in the interaction even said that they didn’t smell any alcohol. Slayton noted that she took Prozac and Adderall for ADHD.
Police then take Slayton’s five-year-old son away before having her do the field sobriety test. Reportedly, this stressed Slayton out, and she got shaky while performing the field sobriety test. Police conclude that she has slurred speech and must be drunk. They arrested her, and since she had no family in Tennessee and a dead phone, her son was put into the custody of the state.
It would take nine weeks for the blood test to come back, which showed that she was not drunk. A psychologist then had to examine Slayton to deem her fit to take back custody of her son. All of this meant that, for nine weeks, she was separated from her son, and she faced charges for felony child neglect and DUI despite not being drunk at all. Once the blood test came back clean, the charges were dropped. But that was it. She was never given an apology or anything. Slayton responded to the result by taking her son and leaving Tennessee. That’s fair.
The investigation suggested that, in Slayton’s case, maybe she was believed to be drunk due to her ADHD behavior, which reportedly can be similar to drunken behavior to the untrained eye.
Here’s how the Tennessee Code defines driving under the influence:
- It is unlawful for any person to drive or to be in physical control of any automobile or other motor driven vehicle on any of the public roads and highways of the state, or on any streets or alleys, or while on the premises of any shopping center, trailer park, or apartment house complex, or any other premises that is generally frequented by the public at large, while:
- (1) Under the influence of any intoxicant, marijuana, controlled substance, controlled substance analogue, drug, substance affecting the central nervous system, or combination thereof that impairs the driver’s ability to safely operate a motor vehicle by depriving the driver of the clearness of mind and control of oneself that the driver would otherwise possess;
- (2) The alcohol concentration in the person’s blood or breath is eight-hundredths of one percent (0.08%) or more; or
- (3) With a blood alcohol concentration of four-hundredths of one percent (0.04%) or more and the vehicle is a commercial motor vehicle as defined in § 55-50-102.
The consequences for DUI convictions in Tennessee are harsh. For example, here’s what a first conviction would get you, from the National College of DUI Defense:
For a DUI 1st conviction: Eleven month and twenty nine day (11/29) sentence, with a minimum service or forty eight (48) hours jail, a fine between $350.00 to $1,500.00, Alcohol safety class, suspension of drivers license for one (1) year. (Eligible for restricted license). If your blood or breath sample is .20% or higher the jail time is seven (7) consecutive days.
WSMV4 warns that, as of this year, police can use “reasonable force” to get a blood sample and that the license suspension minimum is now a year and a half. If you keep on driving drunk and get six or more DUI convictions, here’s the consequence:
For DUI 6th or subsequent convictions: This is a C-felony, with a range of punishment from three (3) to fifteen (15) years imprisonment, with a minimum of one hundred and fifty (150) consecutive days in jail, a fine between $3,000.00 and $15,000.00, and a loss of driver’s license for eight (8) years. (Eligible for Restricted License with an Ignition Interlock Device).
It Gets Worse
This sparked a greater investigation. Slayton was far from the only person to be charged with a DUI or worse despite not being under the influence. Throughout 2024, WSMV4 Investigates revealed the stories of several people who were arrested for DUI and were later found to be sober. In more than one instance, arresting officers allegedly even refused to let the person blow into a breathalyzer despite believing they were drunk. WSMV4 Investigates even found at least one instance where Tennessee Highway Patrol troopers muted their body cams while arresting someone for an alleged DUI.
Then, on November 4, 2024, WSMV4 dropped a bombshell of a report titled “609 sober drivers arrested for DUI in Tennessee between 2017-2023.” Reporters dug into Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) data on DUI arrests and found something shocking. From WSMV4:
WSMV4 Investigates’ reporting found a backlog of alcohol and toxicology tests at the TBI means innocent drivers are losing their jobs and insurance while they wait to clear their names.
[…]
The TBI data shows the arrest of sober drivers happened one or less than one percent of the time in that time frame. The vast majority of DUI arrests resulted in either alcohol or drugs found in the driver’s system. But because there are so many DUI arrests, an average of 15,000 a year, that one percent has resulted in hundreds of arrests of sober drivers. WSMV4 Investigates spoke with Alex Otte, executive director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving in Tennessee. “Nobody wants drunk drivers on the road, ever. But what does it say that we keep finding sober people being arrested for DUI? I have heard of those on a very limited scale and those are, of course, tragic for anyone involved,” Otte said. WSMV4 Investigates is now seeking reactions to the data from law enforcement agencies and prosecutors. We are also asking the TBI to release the locations of the arrests as well as the police agencies responsible.
State lawmakers were incensed to hear that Tennesseans were being arrested for drunk driving when they weren’t drunk. The result was Senate Bill 1166, which was signed into law by Governor Bill Lee on May 2, 2025. The law required the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to identify just how many sober people have actually been arrested for DUI despite actually being sober.
More Than 2,500 Legally Sober People Arrested
In January 2026, TBI finally reported its findings, and the situation was far worse than even WSMV4 discovered. TBI admitted that it grossly undercounted its report of people falsely arrested for DUI by thousands of cases. The now official estimate is that 2,547 Tennessee drivers have been arrested for DUI between 2017 and 2023, even though blood tests had proven they had no alcohol or drugs in their systems. On average, cops in Tennessee arrest around 15,000 people for DUI each year. At first, it was believed that up to one percent of those arrested for DUI were actually sober. Now, the data suggests that it’s slightly more than twice that on average.
Why Are Sober People Getting DUIs?
Now that the data has been revealed, the big question is simply “why?” How are so many sober people getting charged with DUIs? WSMV4 interviewed former state police officers Ashley Smith and Adam Potts. Both claim that these false arrests were due, at least in part, to increased arrest quotas. The video is embedded above. From WSMV4:
WSMV4 Investigates obtained internal maps emailed to troopers in the Jackson district, and recorded audio from a trooper’s meeting in Chattanooga, which Smith and Potts say reveals the department’s insistence that DUI arrests increase. In the recorded meeting, officials told troopers to “arrest every DUI that you can get your hands on” and “load the jail full of them.” The meeting, led by Captain Patrick Turner out of Chattanooga, stipulated that troopers on the midnight shift would be required to make 100 DUI arrests each year.
“Well, it could look like arresting a hundred plus DUIs a year,” Turner said when describing what “hard work” looks like for troopers. Turner can also be heard saying, “You turn in 33 DUIs for a year… And 1.7 contacts (meaning people pulled over for traffic violations)… You’re gonna get spanked.”
Tennessee Highway Patrol denied the allegations despite the recording. The news station then found that Captain Bruce McCarley allegedly sent out “DUI Maps” which showed which officers were operating in certain counties and how many DUI arrests they had made.
WSMV4‘s investigation would end up spreading beyond the borders of Tennessee, and the station has reported that sober people all over America are getting arrested for drunk driving. See the attached video:
The most recent report from the station detailed the story of Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper Asa Pearl. The station reported that 41 of Pearl’s arrests from 2021 to 2024 were dismissed. In eight of those cases, blood tests revealed no alcohol or drugs in their blood at all. In 14 of those cases, no drugs were found, and alcohol levels were below the legal limit. The 19 other cases were dropped for various reasons, including Pearl not showing up to court and Pearl not being able to remember the details of the arrest. Pearl resigned in 2024 with no reason given.
The Highway Patrol Responds
The Tennessee Highway Patrol says that the arrests were valid and that the quota story is false. WZTV Nashville has been conducting its own investigation for two years, and here’s what it reported in January 2026:
Tennessee Highway Patrol Col. Matt Perry testified before the Senate Transportation and Safety Committee on Wednesday. Sen. Mark Pody, R-Lebanon, asked Perry about news reports of people being arrested despite having no drugs or alcohol in their system.
“There’s certainly no quota like some of these articles have pushed,” Perry said. “A trooper’s job is to go out there and arrest every impaired driver, and in cases where people have come back with no blood alcohol or drugs in their system, we review every one of those.
“We have not had one case … and we have our experts in our department review those … we have not had one that they said, ‘Yeah, this was somebody that probably should not have been arrested,’” he said. “Every review we’ve done on all these cases, there’s evidence. There are indicators … field sobriety testing, roadside indicators … the odor of alcohol, the odor of certain drugs, bloodshot, watery eyes … slurred speech. We don’t smell alcohol and then go, ‘OK, we’re taking you to jail now.’”
WZTV Nashville questions how it’s possible that officers smelled alcohol on people who test negative for drugs or alcohol. It’s noted that, following a clean blood test report, courts dismiss these DUI cases.
Unfortunately, the reporting suggests that not much has changed. An attorney interviewed by WSMV4 ended the story with a chilling remark that “this could happen to your child. This could happen to your parent. This could happen to your coworker.” The mountain of evidence uncovered by WSMV4’s great journalists suggests that’s not an exaggeration.
I highly recommend reading the news station’s reporting on this because I’ve captured only a sliver of the more than a few dozen stories on the matter. Otherwise, drive safely. Put down the phone, call an Uber if you’re intoxicated, and don’t treat the road like a racetrack. Good luck!
Top image: Tennessee Highway Patrol
Attorney here. Let me start by saying that impaired drivers should be arrested. I do not represent anyone that fails a breathalyzer or blood test. No reason to drive impaired, period. That being said, I have talked to higher ranking officers in the local police department that admit to telling patrol officers to state “I detect the odor of alcohol” very soon after pulling someone over on most occasions. This is to give them a basis/probable cause later when questioned why they arrested someone. Have advised my kids and others to respond “no sir, you do not” in a polite but insistent tone of voice, and if the stop continues, to ask to be sure that the officer’s body camera is on and working, again politely.
Making America Great again.. Sundown laws and the need for RAS has just been replaced with “I smell weed”.
I interned as a prosecutor during my last year of law school. Good practical experience, basically letting soon to be lawyers get in the courtroom and get comfortable under supervision of young lawyers. If I read an officer report he/she smelled “the distinct odor of alcohol” and observed “bloodshot and glassy eyes” in one arrest affidavit, I read it in 500.
Police forces have bragged they are making more DUI arrests, which proves how effective their enforcement is.
When you look at results, numbers show the opposite.
They go from low numbers of highly impaired drivers to higher numbers of barely arrestable or illegally arrested drivers pulled over without cause.
Fishing stops, instead of patrolling for actual dangerous driving.
I’m pinning this, because oh my it’s great advice!
Great story!
I would like to draw your attention to the lack of due process in TN DMV licensing, and this is not recent.
The legal profession fought it, but it was changed and now there is none.
Also, Georgia has certified some police to become stoner experts, ie another fake skill.
Their record is as accurate as dogs are at providing probable cause, lower than random chance.
The attorney above should bear in mind that that’s not how investigation works.
Everything is questioned. Everything!
Breath tests are junk science, and blood alcohol itself is not evidence of anything except blood alcohol.
When I had to deal with drug testing, I found the guy that invented blood tests for the government, and he confirmed that many cheap shortcut tests are unreliable.
There are occasions to refuse testing or get your own accurate test yourself, based on gas chromatography.
But, as I warned a coworker once, that one will be accurate.
Along with all these gimmicks, the background check gimmick was a device intended to restrict access to human rights.
The old joke is “I never pass a background test.” funny because it was so often true.
The slipshod way it was designed is the reason. It took years before I passed one, and that took having them root out cases with even similar names from old files.
Friend took over a year to pass his first one, thanks to California obstruction.
An attorney gave me truly brilliant advice once. Advised me to order official background checks on myself, state and federal.
Best to get the most verified type.
This preserves a snapshot in time in case it is ever needed. Also it may be useful at other times in lieu of the time and expense of a new report.
This sort of frozen snapshot will not exist if you don’t do this.
Having watched the videos, it’s evident some of these cops are on a fishing trip. Arresting a disabled vet who has balance issues and who said so on bodycam video because he failed the field sobriety test, for instance.
ACAB
Yup. Pigs be piggin’.
I prefer ABACAB, but your point stands.
Tennessee is great place to live if you want to be arrested for nothing. Just ask the WhistlinDiesel guy.
One of the medical issues that can trigger the suspicion of DUI is diabetes: hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia can exhibit the symptoms that mimic intoxication. Some cops don’t bother looking for the necklace or wristband with medical ID symbol. Delaying the medical intervention leads to the further medical complications.
One of my friends in Texas had a Type 1 diabetes, and he sometimes didn’t realise his blood sugar was crashing. So, his family members, friends, and associates had the candies on hand to give him when he started to exhibit the “intoxication”. Unfortunately, he experienced the hypoglycemia when driving alone one evening. The state troopers didn’t check for the necklace or wristband with medical ID symbol while they handled him roughly. He died in the drunk tank a few hours later. Of course, the troopers were charged with involuntary manslaughter, and his family sued for the wrongful death.
I don’t give a shit about WhistlinDiesel as I think he is garbage but one of my friends had a friend who had a diabetic attack. He ended up getting in a chase with the cops and killed. All because his blood sugar was off.
Did they win?
In Oregon, you can similarly be charged with DUI at the cop’s discretion, regardless of actual intoxication tests. I’ve never heard of that being abused, but that doesn’t mean it never has been.
I wonder how many of these folks were distracted driving because of their phones? I find that to be as dangerous as any drunk driver. Does TN have a put down your cell phone law while driving? NC does but no one enforces it. I wish they did. Anyway, I wonder if the TN officers were using DUI for any distracted driving as a way to get unsafe drivers off the street?
According to the article, actual officers involved said it was the quotas, there’s no need to try to paint the cops in a better light.
Tennessee does have a hands-free requirement. I don’t know how strictly they enforce it though.
Oh, THEY ENFORCE IT. I have been legit caught twice. First time was really bad, I was talking to my wife while in a school zone. Completely not paying attention. Second time I was a little mad about, I had come to a hard stop and the phone fell on the floor. i should have just left it there. But the cop at the light across from me was watching and saw me come up with it in my hand when the light turned green.
Yeah, Tennessee does indeed enforce it but it’s not consistent and some of it also involves profiling. I see cops just cruise by people (white, natch) who are hot-dog-talking on their phones and the cops do nothing about it; then there’s, for example, my kid’s coworker, a WOC, who has been pulled over and charged multiple times by cops claiming she was using her phone even though she exclusively uses hands-free (on account of Tennessee’s laws and being under undue scrutiny from cops due to her skin color.) She’s usually been able to get those charges dismissed but it’s such a hassle having to go to court and all that and so much depends on both the cops and the judges, good grief.
It’s not uncommon for cops to come from families with multiple generations of cops; there are cops still on the force around here (in East TN) who have parents and grandparents who were cops that actually enforced the Jim Crow laws that were in force well into the late 1960s. So just one to two generations removed from that era. (My family moved to East TN from the North in 1965 when I was a young toddler so that era is *within* my lifetime, it’s not ancient history…)
They have engineered custom vehicles to spy on you in your vehicle.
The law is only hands off, not a phone ban.
That means tickets for phone navigation too
I live in Alabama (also hands off), and this probably explains why suddenly the Alabama State Troopers have a bunch of F250s. They’re tall enough to be able to see into virtually any other car and see whether the drivers are dicking around on their phones.
F150s, I mean. I don’t think I’ve seen any F250s.
We, as a society, really need to shift our mindset to assuming that anything a police officer claims is BS until proven otherwise.
Officer involved shooting claims they got a gun drawn on them? They’re probably lying. Arrested for driving while drunk? The police are probably lying.
The officers involved who separated a sober mother from her child for 9 weeks should spend the rest of their lives in prison.
Unfortunately, due to qualified immunity, they will never face any consequences.
There is no incentive for police in this country to ever change their bad behavior.
I am not a radical guy, but the ACAB side has mostly won me over.
It is unfortunately the safest stance to take. Cops have widespread protection and leeway to perform their duties and way too many of them take advantage of that to harm the very citizens they are supposed to be protecting.
Police aren’t required to know they law, and they are allowed to lie. That tells you all you need to know about the state of law enforcement.
The guy I knew in college who openly admitted to breaking the law on a regular basis (no, not small stuff like cable theft) is also the one who went into law enforcement. He knew what he was doing.
More than that, they are encouraged to behave this way. There are plenty of stories of actual “good cops” getting bullied out of the service and even straight out killed because they expose the corruption of their fellow officers. Even in the media, Internal Affairs are always portrayed as witchhunters instead of a good and necessary check.
ACAB because the ones who aren’t are actively removed from the system.
What is acab?
Its an abbreviation for G-o-o-g-l-e.
All Cops Are Bad, meaning that even if there are some good cops, them tolerating the bad ones makes them bad by association.
Nine weeks to return a blood test is unacceptable. I went to the lab and had my annual blood work done yesterday. The results were in on at least a couple dozen tests in 6 or 7 hours. If the labs the state is using are overloaded, the state needs to certify and use additional labs.
As far as the initial arrest goes, if someone is impaired/slurring, etc. fine. Just process it in a reasonable time period, like 24 hours.
“Overloaded” in this case meaning “delaying on purpose,” probably.
Yep. If they need to release you within 24 hours if they don’t charge you for a crime, they should have 24 hours to produce hard evidence before letting you out. This is basic logic.
If I had to wait nine weeks for results of a blood test *for my dogs* I’d have found another vet. It usually took less than a week to get Valley Fever titres for the one who had it, and that’s a rare disease in dogs.
Love the bit about a work “colleague” who called the cops….
I had “colleagues” like that who wanted my job too.
No good messing around, physical violence so there is no come back on you and sick leave for them is the way to go.
As a dad, that mom’s story is infuriating. NINE WEEKS without your child while they wait for blood work? I’d be apoplectic and have had a lawyer the next day to get my kid back, and I’d have sued that department for every penny they have after I was proved innocent.
I don’t go as far as saying “ACAB” (I do have cousins who are LEOs and from what I know of them and their upbringing, they couldn’t possibly be crooked), but stories like this sure make it hard.
Listen, I don’t know your cousins, so you may be correct. However, I have a cousin who became an NYPD officer, and the transformation within a year was astonishing.
Being surrounded and immersed in a culture that values retribution, lying, heard mentality, etc. means that the only people who keep their values intact are very quickly pushed out.
As an Applehugger, I’m sure you know that one bad apple spoils the whole damn bunch. This is because a spoiled apple puts off a gas that causes the other apples to spoil faster, just like not dealing with “bad apples” on the police force causes the rot to spread.
Good article. You should consider expanding the coverage to the insanity that is the modern DUI law landscape.
For example, in Minnesota among other states you can be arrested for drunk driving without actually driving. If you’re drunk near your car and your keys are in your possession, that’s considered being in physical control of the car and a cop can arrest you.
There was one case in MN where a guy was drunk in his apartment, went down to his car to get something and passed out in the back seat. Cops arrested him for DUI. The police report even noted that the cop had felt the hood and the engine was cold, so he knew the guy hadn’t been driving, which makes sense because the car didn’t even run.
He got convicted of driving a car that couldn’t be driven while drunk, appealed, lost, appealed to the state supreme court, and lost there too.
This. If you’re going to sleep off your buzz in your car, hide your keys under a bush on the other side of the street. Don’t even have them in the car with you.
In Virginia, you can get a DUI for mowing your lawn with a rider mower while drinking (which I have to admit doing a few times).
“Our experts, paid by this agency to do work for this agency, agreed with the actions of this agency.”
This is why every agency should be audited and investigated by impartial outside agencies that are entirely independent. It’s not oversight if there’s a vested interest in protecting the agency.
Never take a field sobriety test. It is not required, and the test is designed for you to fail no matter what. You can be stone cold sober and you’ll still fail it. The hand held breathalizer is so unreliable that it is not admissible as evidence in court. Don’t do that either.
If you get pulled over and there’s alcohol on your breath, you’re going to jail. Opt for the blood test and lawyer up.
If you see a sobriety check ahead, turning around is not grounds for them to come after you. As we all know, any interaction with police has a non-zero chance of you getting killed, so it’s best to avoid them.
Some states have stiff penalties even on just refusing a breathalyzer/field sobriety test.
They do but it also doesn’t show as a DUI on your record. Its a less bad result, but still bad.
In Virginia, you can get a DUI if you’re impaired in the cop’s opinion. The .08+ just makes it a slam dunk.
In NC you have to be arrested for DUI before you even get the official test.
I’ve seen youtube lawyers say that you do not have to do either of those in any state. The breath test at the station or a blood test is required, however. And they say to opt for the blood test because it’s frequently done incorrectly and isn’t valid.
But for sure refuse the field sobriety test. It is not required. You will not pass it. It is only done to collect evidence for probable cause to arrest you. By the time they’ve got you out of the car to heel-toe, they’ve already decided you’re getting arrested. The test is just for evidence to be used against you in court.
Oh, and STFU. Confirm your name and address, and say NOTHING else other than “I’m invoking my 5th amendment right to remain silent”. If you say, “I only had one beer with dinner”, you just gave a confession.
(I am not a lawyer, I just watch a lot of youtube.)
(and I never drink and drive)
The trick is to set your mind right if you’ve been pulled over. To fully exercise your rights, it is going to be an enormous pain in the ass. You have to be resigned to getting arrested and bailed out, going to court, possibly dragging the whole thing out for months, maybe a year. The whole thing makes you just want to get it over with and I’m sure the legal system and those controlling it want it that way.
I don’t really want to advocate for drunk drivers but it is actually not against the law to have a drink and then drive. There is a legal alcohol blood percentage limit in every state. So if you get pulled over and you just had a glass of wine with dinner, don’t give your rights away and get ready for the pain. The only winners are the DUI lawyers.
I was on a jury a very long time ago in a DUI case. The guy probably should have been arrested and likely was guilty as hell. But he refused any testing at all and we basically let him off due to lack of evidence. I think they do a blood test but it is after he is processed into the jail and it takes time, giving you time to sober up I guess. I don’t remember the specifics. We did vote guilty on some lesser charges where he had to pay a fine so there’s that. They will probably charge you with several, smaller offenses to try and get something to stick.
It sucks, and luckily it hasn’t happened to me. After my jury experience I hope I remember how to get ready for jail time if it ever does because I will not submit to any field test ever.
I’ve actually passed the field sobriety test, and blown .05 on the PBT and been allowed to drive home (while under 21, I might add.) Of course this was decades ago.
And turning around at a sobriety checkpoint is a great way to test the non-zero chances of getting killed by a cop, even if they don’t have “grounds” to pursue. If you can see them, they can see you. They’re not the only officers on patrol, and they have radios. Any time anyone (especially someone whose credentials are “YouTube viewer”) tells you to never/always do something, bust out the grains of salt and cautiously think for yourself.
Police roadblocks are illegal.
I went through a TN highway patrol roadblock not long ago.
It was on a two lane state highway in the middle of nowhere with no traffic.
There were so many police lights flashing I thought it was a massive crash site.
I would have turned off if I could have.
I slowed to about nothing as I approached as it was blinding.
They seemed annoyed I was there wasting their time.
If you turn around approaching a sobriety check point, probability is high they will come after you and pull you over. That’s what the ‘extra’ cops are waiting for.
Turning around isn’t probably cause for them to pull you over. That’s not to say they won’t follow you until you make a mistake and then pull you over.
I remember one night just 2 days before my 21st birthday a friend and I were attending some party and sure enough the cops show up. There were several teenagers there and sure some were drinking but for whatever reason the cop zeroed in on me. He asked for IDs from my friend and I and as soon as he saw I was under 21 (by 2 days) he declared he was going to arrest me for “Minor in possession” and arrest my friend (who was just over 21) for “Contributing to the delinquency of a minor”. I laughed and as soon as word spread half the party was laughing because I’ve always been very vocally straight edge and was certainly sober that night. I noticed some of our friends were trying to herd the drunker partiers inside so I kept the attention on me and demanded 19 breathalyzers because I’ve never had a drink in my life. The cop started going on about how he could smell the alcohol (probably from the girl behind me) and he had 20 years of experience and knew for a fact I was drunk… I told him if he’d finished school maybe he’d have a better job which pissed him off to the point he missed all the drunks being snuck off behind the house.
In the end neither I nor my friend were arrested or cited with anything so I guess it worked but it shows that cops instincts and training aren’t always accurate.
stipulated that troopers on the midnight shift would be required to make 100 DUI arrests each year.
there’s certainly no quota
what do they think a quota is? Has anyone there ever worked in sales?
Playing devil’s advocate for a second here (I can’t believe I’m agreeing with a statement made by the Tennessee police department) – The point of arresting those deemed impaired isn’t necessarily wrong even if they aren’t drunk. You can be impaired without exceeding the legal blood alcohol limit, and you can stack a couple of factors (drowsy + a new medication or drowsy + 1 beer) and be impaired. Theoretically we want cops to be stopping drivers who aren’t capable of driving safely because they are somewhat impaired.
Now obviously there is a “ok, but what if they passed the field sobriety test and why was that officer’s body cam turned off” aspect to this that shouldn’t be glossed over. Cops gonna cop (and then resign for definately no reason).
But the real kicker here is the time it took to get the blood test results. What kind of rinky-dink operation are they running down there? The blood test can be turned around in hours if not less than an hour. “Months” isn’t an acceptable time frame whether these people are guilty or not.
This is the CSI effect. Most police departments don’t have a crime lab and need to send samples to an outside lab for testing.
On top of that, demand at the labs comes into play. We’ve waited over a week for results from “simple” blood test results, and that was at a children’s hospital that did have internal labs. Seems silly, but it’s not like they can go buy new machines/train new techs on the fly for temporary surges in testing demand.
It this a factor of how much you pay? Do labs have the equivalent of UPS shipping: Sonic Air, Next Day Early AM, Next Day, 2 Day, 3 Day, Ground, Freight?
All my labs from by local doctor come back within 24 hours, sometimes I have results in my online chart before the end of the day. On the other hand some tests I’ve had done at hospitals take a few days.
I can easily see the Police paying for the cheapest possible lab testing
My wife worked at a vet – not an animal hospital, just a regular vet office. They could do basic tests in house while the patient is waiting. Of course there were things that needed to be sent out, and those still came back within a few days.
There’s nothing temporary or surge about the demand in TN. The number of arrests have been very steady at about 15K per year. They are neglecting their duty to process these samples in a reasonable time period. I get that a couple hours might not be acheivable, but I would think 24 hours would be more than generous if they adequately planned for the number of arrests they make.
“Planned for the number of arrests they make”
How can they plan for arrests? There’s no quota! /s
Quota or no quota ( I worked in a job where we “didn’t” have “quotas”, but we all knew what the expectation was) there is a historical average. Now, about surge in demand, on additional thought, there probably is around weekends and holidays. But that can still be planned for.
I’m a bit surprised how many people are glossing over this. From the description the ER Nurse was impaired – just not drunk or on drugs but that doesn’t matter one bit when you fall asleep, cross the center line and kill someone. She was a danger to herself, her child, and the public.
But was she enough of a danger to essentially kidnap her child for over two months?
The time it took to get blood results doesn’t not excuse driving impaired.
Both parties are at fault here.
But the child was kept from its mother while waiting for results for… what reason? Was she a threat to her child during that time?
You seem to be carrying water for the obviously wrong party here.
Again, both parties are wrong. Driving impaired is wrong. Holding a child for months is also wrong
The fact that the State held the child way longer than required does not excuse driving impaired. Driving tired can be just as dangerous as driving drunk or high.
I’m sorry, but I say in all politeness, screw your “facts”. Being a person with a rational, logical, and empathetic brain, I can distinguish between someone driving impaired due to being irresponsible vs driving impaired due to being an overworked nurse literally stressed out of her mind from watching people die that she could not help during a global pandemic. If meds are involved in there somewhere that’s besides the point as well because mis-dosing them is likely a direct result of the aforementioned conditions. If you had any family or friends who worked in healthcare during that time, and you have an ounce of empathy in your body, you would not have the stance you have now given what she said she was doing that lead up to her child being taken from her.
I’ll flip your pithy statement back on you: her mistake of driving while impaired, especially given the circumstances of the impairment, does not excuse the state ripping her only child from her for over two months.
Impaired is impaired. She was acting weird enough that the daycare workers that see her almost every day called the police on her
And again, the state taking her kid for 2 months was also wrong. There is no excuse for that either.
BTW, my brother is a nurse – yes COVID was a stressful time.
Impaired is not impaired. I explained why, but you insist on repeating yourself so I suppose I’m done trying.
The reason someone is impaired does not change their ability to drive or the danger to themselves and others. That is why I say impaired is impaired
You are willing to give curtain people a pass to endanger others. I’m not. Nurses aren’t the only people that work long hours.
It is pretty crazy though that we allow medical staff to work 24 and longer shifts. A truck driver can’t work more than 14 hours per 24 hour period or 60 hours in a week. Early in his career my brother would routinely work multiple 24 hour shifts in a week
Killing someone by mistake is not murder. Killing someone due to negligence is not murder. There is a reason why these things are called manslaughter and negligent homicide respectively, and not homicide. Just because the same thing happens as a result of your actions does not mean the actions taken were the same, and does not mean that the consequences for the actions are the same.
I will not equate someone who drives sleepy because they were saving lives for too long with someone who drives drunk because they weren’t responsible enough to call a cab.
On that day, this nurse needed the police officer to drive her and her child either home or to a hospital, not arrest her and take her child away. Because impaired is not impaired.
What jobs get a free pass for driving sleepy?
This last Christmas I was installing equipment in an assembly plant for 3 weeks straight. Minimum 12 hour shifts / some days as many as 20 hours. One of the pipefitters fell asleep on the drive to the factory about 2 weeks in and wrecked the company truck but thankfully wasn’t hurt himself and didn’t hit anyone else. Does he get a pass too? If he was stopped weaving back and forth does he get a drive home from the cops or arrested for driving impaired?
I never said any jobs get a pass. Since the start of this exchange, I’ve been talking about this situation. It is not black and white like you keep trying to make it. It is a judgemental call just like any traffic stop. Not every speeder needs a ticket and not every sleepy driver needs arrested and their child taken away. Impaired is not impaired.
Legally it does
Well, that’s somewhat in doubt given the suggestion of ADHD type behaviors while she was picking up her kid. That doesn’t establish she was impaired.
She was described as impaired in a phone call which resulted in cops showing up and arresting her having barely pulled out of her parking spot, not based on what the cops personally observed nor anyone observing her, ya know, actually driving.
She was acting weird enough that the staff at her daycare that likely see her almost every day called the cops because she was acting impaired.
Working almost nonstop for days without much sleep will do that.
Instead of offering a ride home?
I know when my health is at risk, my first call is to a daycare worker.
97.4269% chance these labs are instructed not to rush the tests. Cruelty is part of the game.
The real issue of course being, in this country, just being accused of such a thing probably means your life is going to be destroyed.
This is certainly a case of “guilty until proven innocent”. Just being held and having to explain that to your boss is probably ruining your career even if it doesn’t impact your work. If it does, then you MUST be guilty and aren’t going to convince anyone otherwise. On top of that to have your child taken away from weeks? That’s unimaginable.
The whole “we’ll take your kids away” thing is so wildly variable. It seems like in some places the state seems to need incontrovertible evidence that the parent attempted to murder the child, where in other places the state will threaten the parent for being accused of DUI, or something as benign as allowing you kid to walk alone to the park and back.
How about decades to test rape kits?
I expect this kind of corruption in the South. Generally speaking, cops everywhere do have a quota to fulfill. There’s audio evidence in the Tennessee case. I don’t care how much they protest the accusations. It’s a matter of revenue.
I was fully on the thought line of this being geographically isolated but apparently per the video this is a national problem. The ACLU should take this on since they have a national and state presence. They can sue in every case where the tests take longer than a certain amount of time. Why haven’t they done this already?
uhhhh sleep deprivation much?
Lack of sleep closely mirrors alcohol impairment – re the COVID nurse who was being pushed to the brink at work and also solo parenting a 5 year old – the cops were super wrong, but without a doubt she was driving her child around in an impaired state. Doesn’t mean she should have been arrested and put through the wringer.
I don’t have a point – just sucks, and I bet a lot of these false DUI arrests are sleep deprived shift workers and healthcare workers who are displaying signs of impairment for that reason.
But why in the name of all that is holy wouldn’t you readily make breathalyzers available all the time so someone in this situation can’t just blow?
Well, maybe its because they had one drink and wouldn’t blow anyway, sometimes.
Good reporting by the original sources, and I am glad to see it highlighted here too. Rampant drunk driving was and is really really bad, policing individual behavior is really hard, and this shows how collateral damage can be done to innocent bystanders.
So much for “we don’t have quotas”.
Edit: I got sniped! @Grey alien in a beige sedan
“We don’t have quotas”
— TSP official statement
Well, I think THP probably/certainly doesnt.
But individual leaders like Captain Coo-Coo Face in the recording sure does.
So practically maybe it doesn’t matter.
It still comes down to individuals doing the work and like all things there are going to be plenty of a-holes who do in fact threaten to spank their employees for failing to gin up enough arrests. Ugh.
There’s a good chance that THP doesn’t have a policy that expressly creates quotas, but still indirectly creates them. They may even directly forbid individual arrest quotas, but expect certain numbers from each district. As a result, the lower level leadership feels the pressure and pressures the patrol officers, creating de facto (or explicit) quotas, despite policies against them.
I don’t know the exact situation, but it’s pretty common to have policies with unintended consequences and policies that end up at odds with each other.
Agree!
An important thing to know here for me would be if the behavior only *appears* like someone incapable of controlling a car, or if it actually poses a safety threat to others commensurate with drinking.
If the latter, then the 9 week turnaround and felony endangerment charges are still grossly excessive, but the rationale is at least understandable.
In any case, if quotas are actually being demanded, even if unofficially, then heads need to roll for this.
Whoa, cops are slimy and make shit up that hurts innocent people in order to meet bullshit quotas? In other news, the sky is blue. We live in a country where ICE is arresting and even deporting legal citizens, so this isn’t entirely shocking.
Just arresting? How about straight up murdering.
Oh yes, that too.
There is nothing that piss me off more than someone messing with an overworked nurse, specially during COVID. Leave them alone, they are already working understaffed and dealing with rude patients. If you are watching The Pitt on HBO, doctors are not the ones running the show, the reality is nurses are the ones doing everything.
My husband (Registered Nurse) already got pull over a couple times after a long night shift and he leaves his badge on plus a stethoscope hanging from the mirror to avoid our local police.
I was just about to post above but I will do it here. My wife is a 25+ year overnight ER nurse and drives with the scrubs and ID on when commuting to and from work. Also watching The Pitt with her is shocking, she called the maggot scene before it happened.
I tried for him to watch it but he works at DMC Downtown Detroit ER department that is the trauma center of the city. Gunshots almost everyday, he didnt continue since he said, why I want to watch what I deal with at work lol
Totally, My wife could smell the fires from George Floyd Riots in the ED with no security staff in Triage, and now has been dealing with ICE. Totally get it.
A good reminder that you should always assert your right to counsel early and clearly. It doesn’t matter how innocent you are, you are always at a disadvantage. It’s not a bad idea to have an attorney’s business card in your glovebox.
Just do not reach into the glovebox while the officers are near or you will need a mortuary.
As I have heard it stated before:
The cop’s job is to find you guilty, not to determine if you are innocent – that’s someone else’s job.
Innocent people need lawyers too, and as shown in the case above sometimes they need them even quicker.
Exactly!! This is something that get emphasized on true crime podcasts very often…for example, if a missing person’s spouse immediately hires a lawyer, that shouldn’t be viewed as proof of guilt. They’re just trying to protect themselves from overzealous cops.
Cops are interested in closing cases, not solving them. Don’t talk to the cops without a lawyer.
Feels like an appropriate place to remind people: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-7o9xYp7eE
NOT SHOCKED!, Law enforcement quotas suck as does civil forfeiture.
Well, this DOJ is going to absolutely squat about this. Keep your head on a swivel my TN. Friends.
I’m sure it’s worse for those with out-of-state plates.