SUPPORT OF IGNITION INTERLOCKS

Submitted by: Highway Safety Committee

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WHEREAS, the resolution support for Increased Impaired-Driving Enforcement (HSC.014.a07),adopted at the 114th Annual IACP Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana, on October 16, 2007, indicates: [T]he International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) supports the use of technologies to prevent impaired drivers from operating vehicles, including the use of alcohol ignition interlocks; . . .;and

WHEREAS, ignition interlocks have been used as a means of controlling impaired driving since the 1980s; and

WHEREAS, the IACP and federal agencies and national organizations, including the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), The Century Council, the Distilled Spirits Council, the Governors Highway Safety Association and others, have pledged their support for the Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADDs) Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving (CEDD); and

WHEREAS, MADD is promoting adoption of mandatory interlock laws by States for all (including first) offenders as part of its CEDD; and

WHEREAS, a summary of ten evaluations of ignition interlock programs in the United States and Canada indicated that interlocks reduce impaired driving recidivism at least by half, and sometimes more, in comparison to similar offenders without interlocks; and

WHEREAS, 46 states and the District of Columbia currently permit the use of ignition interlocks for some offenders and six states (New Mexico, Arizona, Louisiana, Washington, Nebraska, and Illinois) have enacted mandatory ignition interlock laws that cover all offenders; and

WHEREAS, according to NHTSA, there are currently about 133,000 interlocks in use (up from 100,000 in 2006), which represents approximately 13 percent of the number of annual impaired driving convictions and about 33 percent of the number of repeat impaired driving convictions; now, therefore, be it 20

RESOLVED that the IACP duly assembled at its 115th Annual Conference in San Diego, California fully supports and will advocate for the expanded and improved use of ignition interlocks to reduce the risk of recidivism among impaired driving offenders; and, be it

FURTHER RESOLVED that the IACP joins with MADD and other organizations in urging states and other governing bodies to enact and/or strengthen ignition interlock laws and programs to make ignition interlocks mandatory for all (including first) impaired driving offenders.