No Refusal Weekend: CSPD Says It Will Conduct Forced Blood Draws
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Updated: 9:11 PM Apr 1, 2009
No Refusal Weekend: CSPD Says It Will Conduct Forced Blood Draws
Chilifest is the weekend of April 3rd. But before the crowds start heading to the outdoor musical event ,College Station P.D. will be making a big statement! It's called No Refusal Weekend from April 1 to April 4.
Posted: 4:39 PM Mar 31, 2009
Reporter: Mike George
Email Address: george@kbtx.com
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Chilifest is the weekend of April 3. But before the crowds start heading to the outdoor musical event , police will be making a statement on the streets of College Station It's called No Refusal Weekend and it runs April 1-4.

The College Station Police Department will utilize six officers to focus on DWI violations. If a DWI stop is made, the suspect will be requested to give a sample of their breath or blood in order to determine the alcohol concentration or presence of a controlled substance or drug in their body. If the suspect refuses, a warrant may be sought for a blood sample. If the Magistrate issues a warrant, a blood sample will be taken from the suspect to provide evidence in the DWI case.

Police say this effort is intended to discourage anyone from drinking and driving but is also intended to help prove DWI cases against those who choose to drive while intoxicated.

According to CSPD, Texas A&M police and the Brazos County Attorney's office will be taking part in No Refusal Weekend.

College Station police aren't the first law enforcement agency to implement this policy. Other agencies across the state either have the forced draw policy permanently in place or during special occasions.

Austin police tried it over the Halloween weekend. Although there were few blood draws, a public forum Monday there had people packing council chambers. Some screamed, some shouted. At one point a council member threatened to shut down the forum if citizens weren't able to bring themselves under control. Austin residents were concerned forced draw was a violation of their civil liberties.

One criminal defense attorney News 3 spoke to said there was nothing unconstitutional about the mandatory draws.


Latest Comments

Posted by: wow Location: bryan tx on Apr 9, 2009 at 08:26 PM

i sure hear lots a opinions out there but nobodys doing anything ...i hear ya talking so now can you do the WALK...in other words put your opinions to work..instead of talking about do something about..as many people complain about about all the laws being put on us ..so these people complaining needs to do more then complain..
Posted by: Sammy on Apr 4, 2009 at 02:41 PM

Make the law so that if you refuse a breath test, it's a guilty plea for DWI and be done with it?
Posted by: tom Location: c/s on Apr 3, 2009 at 07:21 PM

rights? you have the right not to drive drunk...so why don't you do that instead of driving drunk and run the risk of getting into an accident and killing someone or getting a DUI or DWI. I got no problem with this, keep those little drunk punks off the streets and let them sleep it off
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