Investigation
Memo: Florida Highway Patrol pressures some troopers to make DUI arrests
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Fox 4 getting our hands on an email that some think proves you're more likely to get pulled over this weekend. The memo, which was issued by Cpt. Tim Culhane, questions why several troopers never made any DUI arrest in 2011. Video by fox4now.com
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NAPLES, Fla. - Fox 4 getting our hands on an email that some think proves you're more likely to get pulled over this weekend.
The memo, which was issued by Cpt. Tim Culhane, questions why several troopers never made any DUI arrest in 2011.
Cpt. Culhane requested that those troopers be required to work every other Friday night until they make a DUI arrest.
The tipster who sent the inter-office email to Fox 4 says the memo proves that the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) uses a quota system, an accusation the organization denies.
"FHP does not have a quota. Again, our priority is making the roadways safe and we hold troopers accountable for being in line with the agency's mission of, in this instance, removing impaired drivers from the roadway," says Lt. Greg Bueno, an FHP spokesperson.
Bueno says the only reason that the memo was issued was to address performance issues with some of its troopers.
A Naples attorney tells Fox 4 that the memo is troubling to him and, in his opinion, could make troopers more anxious than normal to pull over drivers even for little things.
"It makes a normal officer super sensitive to normal driving conditions like somebody changing the radio," said Sean King.
While King thinks the memo may be pushing troopers a little too hard.. he does agree troopers should be aggressive if they suspect a driver is really drunk.
"Drunk drivers kill people so please, don't drink and drive, that's what I want to tell people."
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