DUI task force looks to bolster enforcement, prevention

The Lincoln County DUI Task Force is placing renewed emphasis on prevention and enforcement this year.

“Our people in Lincoln County are not just drinking, they’re drinking in excessive amounts,” Sindy Filler, task force coordinator, told the board of commissioners May 26. “Those numbers are pretty high, pretty scary. These are our friends and neighbors that share the roads with us, that share the roads where the school buses travel.”

Filler was pointing to the blood alcohol content found in offenders referred to Lincoln County Justice Court. Thus far in 2021, the courthouse has seen 46 driving under the influence-related cases. That’s compared to 66 in all of 2020, Filler said.

More alarming, the average BAC for cases filed through April of this year was 0.132, the highest coming in a .275 or more than three times the legal limit, Filler said.

Despite the relatively small population, Lincoln County remains one of the top 15 Montana counties for fatal and serious injury crashes where alcohol played a contributing factor.

“The numbers are still significant and worrisome,” Filler told commissioners while presenting the task force’s plan for the coming year.

The state as a whole has a drinking problem, according to Filler. The toll of injuries and deaths aside, it also costs taxpayers and hinders the local economy.

About $131 million was spent each year in Montana mitigating the consequences of DUI-related incidents, according to the task force’s annual plan. Alcohol abuse in general costs the state more than half a billion annually, according to the University of Montana’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research. The 2009 study included lost wages and productivity as well as the cost of substance abuse treatment and medical costs.

Another $49.1 million was spent on law enforcement, those dollars headed toward policing, incarceration and judicial system costs of alcohol abuse, according to the study.

A second study, issued in 2010, included the $131 million cost of alcohol-related vehicle crashes with injuries.

And Lincoln County sees one alcohol-related traffic accident every nine days, according to a 2009 community needs assessment included in the task force’s plan.

Local attitudes toward drinking and drug use play a role, according to the task force. The group’s plan reported that the jurisdiction is often referred to as “Lincoln Drinkin’ County” and that residents “work hard, play hard and drink and use alcohol and drugs even harder.”

Those attitudes have trickled down to the county’s youth. According to the plan, a 2009 University of Montana study put the area at the top of the state for underage, binge drinking among high school seniors. Further, more than 70 percent of eighth graders in the county have reported consuming alcohol.

“Alcohol use — even for youth — is a deeply rooted community norm and is often the No. 1 VIP on the invite list at social events,” the plan states, pointing out that the county is home to about 40 bars. “At community events, alcohol sales are promoted and, until recently, there were no restrictions in place to deter over consumption or service to minors.”

Commissioners wondered how the pandemic and last year’s restrictions had played into alcohol consumption locally. County Commissioner Jerry Bennett (D-2) pointed to reporting in the Daily Inter Lake that found increases in alcohol sales in 2020. According to the state Department of Revenue, an additional 20,000 cases of hard liquor were sold to liquor stores between September 2019 and September 2020.

Looking at the statistics, “you can assume people are self-medicating,” Bennett said.

“I think a lot of this could be attributed to COVID-19 in the last year,” he said. “It put extenuating circumstances on a lot of families and businesses.”

“That’s what we see,” Filler replied. “With all the stress, people are choosing to self-medicate.”

Filler said the task force’s proposed budget, included in the report, calls for increasing professional development and training line item to $2,000 in fiscal 2022. Other budget priorities include equipment for law enforcement agencies, which amounts to $2,000, and $1,500 for community education. Enforcement efforts, specifically DUI patrols and police response to underage drinking parties, amounted to $5,000 of the $16,500 budget.

After digesting the plan, commissioners voted unanimously to approve the task force’s budget.

“There are our friends and neighbors — just many of them need treatment,” Filler said. “Many are not getting caught to get that treatment.”