In 1984 I was a DUI officer working for the Hawthorne Police Department. Earlier that year I demanded a reassignment. I reported my partner Jim White to our Lieut. and supervisor. I told my Lieut. that I could no longer work with officer White because he was falsely arresting citizens on trumped up DUI charges.
Successful DUI prosecutions require that the officers observe a pattern of driving that can be reported to the court in their testimony. No single driving offense or infraction is sufficient to prove DUI. Speeding or even a traffic collision is not by itself indicative of drunk driving. For this reason officers are required to support the conclusions they reach with field sobriety tests.
My partner, Jim White, rarely relied on DUI sobriety tests to determine if a motorist should be arrested. White often observed a single traffic offense and immediately concluded that the driver was drunk. He would approach the car and criticize the driver with a tirade of admonishments. If the driver questioned White's authority they were presumed drunk. What officer White was doing is what police officers call an "attitude arrest." White was eventually fired for other misconduct.
Police officers sometimes use the threat of a criminal violation like a DUI to punish citizens or to extort favors. Yesterday, a woman contacted PoliceAbuse.com reporting that she was propositioned during a traffic stop by a police officer in Dickson Oklahoma. The officer John Ruiz, told her that she could "blow" to thank him for not writing her additional violations. After telling her to "blow," officer Ruiz unzipped his pants. Below her report and our phone call to the police chief.
