John DiPietro
State Chair
Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Ohio
Testimony Supporting House Bill 388
Armed Services, Veterans Affairs, and Public Safety Committee
February 23, 2016
Thank you Mr. Chairman and members of the committee for allowing MADD
the opportunity to submit testimony in support of House Bill 388, which
expands the use of ignition, interlocks for all first-time convicted drunk
drivers in Ohio. My name is John DiPietro, Ohio State Chair of Mothers
Against Drunk Driving. I am a retired Deputy Chief of Police dedicating over
25 years of my career to traffic safety and crime prevention. Currently,
along with my service to MADD Ohio, I serve as a Board Member for the
Ohio Crime Prevention Association, the Crime Prevention Coalition of
America and the International Society of Crime Prevention Practitioners.
MADD’s number one legislative priority in Ohio is for all drunk driving
offenders to have ignition interlock devices on any vehicle that they drive
during the period that their license would ordinarily be suspended by law.
Ignition interlocks offer the only proven technology that protects the public
and the driver by preventing a car from starting if the driver is impaired by
alcohol.
MADD advocates for ignition interlocks over license suspension, because
while the device is installed, the driving behavior of offenders is being
monitored. Interlocks protect the public while allowing offenders to continue
with their daily lives.
We are at the point in history now where we must embrace technology as a
crime prevention tool, such as Ignition Interlock Devices, to keep our
citizens safe.
Looking now at impaired driving from a crime prevention standpoint
certainly demonstrates the use of technology as a prevention tool.
Crime Prevention is defined as “The anticipation, recognition and
appraisal of a crime risk, or risks, and the initiation of some action,
or actions to reduce or remove it.” We all agree that impaired driving is
a crime. And, sadly, in some cases that crime is a homicide. In fact, an
impaired driver in my hometown of Dayton, Ohio murdered just recently four
innocent motorists. Now, applying the strategies of crime prevention, such
as the Crime Triangle or perhaps Crime Prevention Through Environmental
Design, would go to reduce the instances of impaired driving in our State.
The Crime Triangle theory demonstrates that there is a requirement for an
Offender, Victim and Opportunity for a crime to occur, thus - three sides
of a triangle. We as Crime Prevention Practitioners focus upon the side of
the triangle to which we have the most ability and methods to intervene and
remove or reduce the crime risk, that being opportunity. Now if we were to
apply the use of technology, specifically an interlock device, we are
removing the opportunity for someone to commit the crime of impaired
driving. Traditional methods of removing opportunity for an impaired driving
crime to occur could be considered a traffic stop or OVI checkpoint, while
that method is needed, it is extremely insufficient as statistics demonstrate.
Another prevention strategy called CPTED, which stands for Crime
Prevention Through Environmental Design, is based upon the theory that:
"The proper design and effective use of the built environment can
lead to a reduction in the incidents and fear of crime, and an
improvement in the quality of life". CPTED focuses upon three
opportunities that we may influence: surveillance, access control and
territorial reinforcement. A vehicle and roadway would be considered our
“built environment” and by applying the CPTED approach of Access Control
by means of an interlock device, we would again accomplish the goal of
removing or reducing a crime risk, that being impaired driving.
In conclusion, we need to start looking at the crime of impaired driving from
a different perspective; that is as if we were all Ohio Crime Prevention
Practitioners. We have the means to control this crime risk by removing the
opportunity to commit the crime of impaired driving. We know that
interlocks save lives by using crime prevention strategies such as using the
crime triangle to and CPTED by applying access control measures, thus
removing those opportunities to drive and subsequently commit the crimes
associated with impaired driving. They stop offenders from driving impaired
and are the only assured way that we could safeguard the public from
potential repeat drunk driving behavior. It is time to expand the law so that
more offenders utilize interlocks over license suspension. Interlocks
accomplish what license suspension alone cannot-they teach sober driving
behavior while protecting the public. MADD urges the committee to advance
an amended HB 388 in the legislative process. Thank you.