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Sam Malcolm

One Summer, 103 BUIs
by Sam Malcolm
Sergeant
Boating Safety Unit
San Joaquin County Sheriff's Department

I would like to bring to your attention the accomplishments of the Deputies assigned to the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office Boating Safety Unit. Between May 27, 2006 and September 4, 2006, the nine members of this unit arrested 103 drunk drivers. In other words 103 Boating Under the Influence and Driving Under the Influence arrests in 101 days. The total number of BUI arrests for 2006 is 107 as of September 11th. The units prior record of 76 was broken in mid August.

San Joaquin County is located in California at the northern end of the San Joaquin Valley. It is 1439 square miles and contains approximately 550 miles of waterways that this unit is responsible for. The largest portion of which is the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. This waterway is used year round by all types of recreational boaters and ships involved with domestic and international commerce. The busiest time of year is Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend. It is not uncommon to have 200 to 500 boats on the water during the week and 500 to 1000 boats on the water on the weekend. Holiday weekends have seen as many as 5000 boats a day using Delta waterways.

The current members of the unit are Sergeant Sam Malcolm, Deputies Brian Barnes, Steve Buettner, Robert Callahan, Mike Dugger, Art Harty Sr., Jeff McLean, Steve Mettler and reserve Deputy Stan Kaneko. Every one of these individuals takes the issue of drinking and driving on the water very seriously. They work every weekend from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Because of their efforts, only 26 accidents were reported during the summer and only two accidents were alcohol related. The unit investigated two fatal boating accidents neither of which was alcohol related. Of the 33 cases that have been adjudicated so far in 2006, 31 cases have been led to guilty verdicts for a 93% conviction rate.

During the same period in 2005, the unit made 63 BUI arrests. There were 33 accidents, two of which were attributed to alcohol. In the summer of 2004, despite spending June, July and the first half of August providing security for a major levy break, the unit was still able to make 21 BUI arrests. That summer saw 37 boating accidents reported, two of which involved alcohol. It should be noted that the unit had an 83% conviction rate in 2004-2005.

Between May 27, 2004 and September 4, 2006 the Boating Safety Unit has made a total of 194 drunk driving arrests. All of these arrests have been made between the months of May and October. In addition to the unit's productivity involving drunk drivers, it should also be noted that during the same time period the unit wrote 1488 citations for various boating safety violations. This involves everything from registration issues to safety equipment violations.

In addition to arresting violators, the unit also takes pride in educating the public in the laws related to safe boating practices. As evidenced by the previously mentioned statistics, education coupled with strong enforcement works well in preventing alcohol related accidents by removing the violator and sending a strong message to those using the waterways in San Joaquin County that boating under the influence will not be tolerated. This has created a safe environment for all those that use the waterways.

About Sam Malcolm

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