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More than 100 Indiana law enforcement agencies, including six in Hamilton County, have new field alcohol breath testers, provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute (ICJI).
The Reporter’s news gathering partner WISH-TV reported the organizations provided 1,758 units of the new technology after simply calling each agency and asking what equipment they need. Most requested new field breath testers and the ICJI delivered them this week.
“We are working to reduce fatalities that are alcohol related across the state, giving our officers better equipment to make good choices so they can do this,” said Dave Murtaugh, executive director of ICJI.
Locally, the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department, along with Carmel, Noblesville, Westfield, Fishers and Cicero police departments received the new testers.
Noblesville Chief of Police Kevin Jowitt stated, “NPD received 10 new field alcohol breath testers at no cost. That is a huge savings for the City of Noblesville.”
Jowitt said the new devices are much more user friendly than old models. “The old models often required the use of two hands. The new testers can be operated with one hand and does not require as much focus on the instrument, providing officers with more situational awareness.”
Other benefits include the instrument’s ability to detect alcohol in a group of people. “There’s a cone shaped attachment that you can put on it and, without having someone blow into a tube like previous models, it will still register presence of alcohol,” said Jowitt.
According to WISH-TV, ICJI officials say a positive test from a sniffer or any field sobriety test is just a tool to help the officer establish probable cause for an arrest and shouldn’t be the officer’s sole piece of evidence in making an arrest. The test results from the new devices are separate from certified blood alcohol level or breathalyzer test from hospitals or police stations.
The new testers are already in the hands of 150 agencies across the state. Locally, Carmel received the largest distribution of the new units with 20. Fishers and the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department each received 15. Noblesville along with Westfield received 10 and Cicero received two.
Public safety officials say the new testers will be put to the test on a large scale with the upcoming “Safe Family Travel Holiday” enforcement program.