As part of the Governor’s Highway Safety Program, law enforcement officers conducted over 2,000 sobriety checkpoints and dedicated DWI patrols. The counties with the highest number of arrests for drunk driving in North Carolina were Pitt with 68 arrests, Wake with 41 and Mecklenburg with 31.

A total of 18,913 traffic and criminal citations were issued across the state during the campaign for seat belt violations, speeding, drugs possession and child safety violations. 112 fugitives were apprehended and 19 stolen cars were recovered.

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The checkpoints will continue for a total of five days, and they will be scattered around the city.

The arresting officer noticed the strong presence of alcohol on Harmon’s breath and the arrest report said Harmon had glassy eyes and mumbled speech. A breath test revealed a blood alcohol level of .11%, well above the .08% legal limit for intoxication in North Carolina.

Harmon was charged with North Carolina DWI, speeding and operating a motorcycle without the proper license. He was booked at the Wake County jail and released with the written promise to appear in court next month. The Raleigh police department has not commented on the case.

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A county sheriff's office trooper drove past the accident and radioed for a tow truck. Emergency Services then contacted the North Carolina Highway Patrol. Thorpe had left the scene before troopers arrived, though Thorpe was contacted and arrested at his nearby home. He was charged with driving while intoxicated around 4:45 am. A breath test showed a blood alcohol content of 0.27%, more than three times the legal limit for intoxication in North Carolina.

It is not known if Thorpe, 44, was on-duty at the time of the accident. The Navassa Town Council suspended him without pay, pending an investigation by town officials. In 2004, Thorpe was implicated in an embezzlement operation for diverting hundreds of dollars from a drug bust. He was prosecuted though he was required to enroll in additional law enforcement training for ethics and administrative issues.

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A total of 66,738 traffic and criminal citations were issued for speeding, seatbelt violations, drug possession, child passenger safety violations, as well as drunk driving. As part of the governor’s Highway Traffic Safety Program, Operation Firecracker ran between June 27 and July 6 and more than 5,724 sobriety checkpoints and drunk driving patrols were conducted statewide. The counties with the most North Carolina DWI offenses were Wake (132) and Mecklenburg (114).

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The governor said that the extended Fourth of July weekend is one of the deadliest for travel, and ‘Operation Firecracker’ is intended to make the highways safer. In 2007, there were 60 vehicle related fatalities over the Independence Day holiday, and 21 involved alcohol.

‘Operation Firecracker’ is part of the ‘Booze It & Lose It’ campaign, and it will be conducted between Friday, June 27 and Sunday July 6. During last year’s Fourth of July crackdown more than 6,173 patrols and checkpoints were held targeting drunk driving in North Carolina.

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Richmond County is one of 18 counties selected for consideration in the program because of high rates of alcohol related traffic fatalities and injuries. The study has established two primary goals for the program; to gain maximum public awareness of the dangers of drunk driving in North Carolina and to facilitate prosecution of DWI cases in court. Secondary goals include the public release of the results of NC DWI checkpoints and addressing sources of illegal alcohol distribution. These goals will be packaged in a ‘responsible living’ ad campaign that could include flyers, bumper stickers, billboards and brochures.

The Mount Olive College/Richmond County proposal is subject to approval of the North Carolina Strategic Prevention Framework grant office, and must meet its criteria for reducing DWI injuries and deaths in the county.

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The six Breath Alcohol Testing labs or BATmobiles are converted school busses that sport slogans like ‘Booze it and lose it’ and ‘.08 - It's the law.’ They are equipped with breath-testing equipment to determine a suspect’s blood alcohol content, a phone for suspects to call an attorney and a toilet. Being able to test for drunk driving from remote locations speeds up the process and allows law enforcement to test more motorists. It also allows for the testing of blood alcohol content at the time a motorist is suspected of driving drunk in North Carolina, rather than potentially hours later.

The Batmobiles are used throughout the state to combat North Carolina DWI. The BATmobile program was started in 1996, and the FTA added the latest vehicle to the fleet a couple of years ago at a cost of about $250,000. The special vehicles are funded with grants from the Governor's Highway Safety program.

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The state has found numerous instances of drivers charged with misdemeanor DWI providing different names and personal information when arrested. The drunk driving suspects then simply did not show up for their court dates. Previously only those charged with a felony were photographed and fingerprinted.

The identification program puts together photographs and any additional information on DWI suspects who fail to appear in court and provides them to law enforcement agencies. District Attorney Ron Moore said “We have a lot of people on our highways who are not properly licensed and driving drunk, and we have not had the system in place to try to identify them.” He felt the new law will provide a “powerful tool for law enforcement.”

The new North Carolina DWI law will go into effect October 1, 2007.

What precipitated the decision was a courtroom challenge to the traffic stop that lead to the drunk driving arrest and a disturbing pattern activity by one Highway Patrol officer. Trooper Scott Harrison has been suspected of targeting young women while on patrol. He often would patrol alone at night, focusing on an area near a college campus. Records show 49% of Harrison's DWI arrests involved women, compared to a statewide average of 18 percent. Harrison is on administrative duty while the state highway patrol investigates.

In dismissing the case, the Wake County judge stated that the traffic stop in question was “unconstitutional and unlawful” and called Harrison "not trooper material" if there was a pattern to his arrest procedure. The judge's words caught the attention of North Carolina Highway Patrol officials who are concerned about the public perception of the department.

Some say that bicyclists can create traffic hazards and ‘drunk riders’ need to be caught. Law enforcement officials say arresting drunk bicyclists is not a priority though they admit that if there is a clear violation, they will enforce the law. North Carolina DWI defense lawyers feel those who are legally drunk are doing the right thing by opting for a bicycle rather than driving a car.

Not much empathy is extended to drunk lawn mower operators though. Sgt. David Register, of the Wilmington police department said, “No one needs to be driving a lawn mower on the road drunk. It's asking for trouble.” To be charged with North Carolina DWI, a person has to be riding a bicycle or lawnmower on a public street.

An statewide exception remains for riding a horse while intoxicated.

“We don't want any more DWI deaths in the community,” said Angeles Ortega-Moore, executive director of the Latin America Coalition of Charlotte.

The anti-DWI program includes billboards, advertising on Latino radio stations and in Spanish language newspapers, and a series of educational programs. One educational program calls for training of about a dozen community leaders who will campaign against drinking and driving on a grass-roots level.

The six-month, $25,000 fight against drunk driving is funded by several sources, including the Coalition, police and North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission.

A former Fayetteville Police Chief said, “I think, at least, Cumberland County should be at or better than the state average because I know for a fact that generally the police officers in this area are well-trained, they have adequate equipment and generally the arrests
are scrutinized (and) are supervised.”

Voters obviously agreed. The latest election unseated the incumbents, as voters sided with two judicial candidates whose campaigns raised issue with the low DWI conviction rate.

North Carolina DWI defense attorneys are optimistic that the new judges will still balance the facts in drunk driving cases. They feel judicial ability to apply the law fairly will outweigh a political agenda.

Regardless of the intent and future decisions of the two new North Carolina District Court judges, DWI conviction rates are expected to rise in North Carolina. Starting in December, a series of new laws goes into effect that will increase the penalties for drunk driving and make it more difficult to avoid or reduce the charges.