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DUI Statistics :
The statistics range from the past three fiscal years, which run from July 1 to June 30. In each fiscal year, total arrests, including DUI arrests, have increased, while motor vehicle accidents have gone down. While 183 total accidents were recorded in year one, only 116 were recorded in year three, a 37 percent difference. During that same time, 154 DUI arrests were recorded in year one, contrasted to 235 in year three, a difference of 34 percent.
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Faith under fire: Birmingham chief copes with murder surge |
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by Jay Reeves
The Birmingham Times
Originally posted 8/24/2006
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) _ Annetta Nunn's office could belong to any Black
preacher in town: A photo of Martin Luther King Jr. greets visitors,
mocha-colored angel figurines fill a bookcase. The baseball cap behind
her desk says ``God Answers Prayers.''
Yet
Nunn isn't a minister - she's the police chief. And she's wonders if
the fact she is an outspoken Christian has something to do with the
surging murder rate in Alabama's biggest city, where homicides are up
more than 25 percent over last year.
Nunn says one thing is
certain to happen anytime Christians speak boldly: ``Satan is going to
attack.'' So Nunn can't help but wonder if her own actions _ singing
hymns at the funerals of three slain officers, making speeches and
writing articles mentioning God- somehow made the devil meaner than
usual in Birmingham.
Yes, the city is struggling against crime. But Nunn is struggling too, with questions about crime, punishment, fate and God.
A
26-year veteran of the department, Nunn became the City's first Black
female police chief in 2003. She has improved the firepower of the
department by acquiring rifles and additional stun guns for officers,
and she worked in the community to bolster neighborhood watch programs.
She also is trying to improve the department's communication
with other police agencies, and she has encouraged officers to get
involved in the community with volunteer groups.
Critics on
radio call-in shows, Internet forums and letters to the editor have
called Nunn too soft. They claim the City needs more hard-nosed
policing and less Christian rhetoric.
But police Sgt. Allen
Treadaway said Birmingham's increasing homicide rate isn't the fault of
Nunn, who was appointed by the mayor. City leaders need to provide more
money for recruiting and retaining officers and operating task forces
to combat problems like drugs, he said.
``We have to have a
strategy in place and resources available to take those who are not
contributing to society out of society,'' said Treadaway, president of
the City's Fraternal Order of Police lodge.
For Nunn, faith and crime fighting are intertwined.
One
of Nunn's first ideas as chief was a Bible-based plan of civic
responsibility for cleaning up rundown neighborhoods, and she supports
police chaplains who hold revivals in crime-ridden communities.
She
talks about the need to lock up criminals, but she also talks of
working with pastors to discourage crime and change hearts.
``I
do believe we have to get back to God to permanently change a person's
behavior,'' she said in an interview. ``We put people in jail all the
time. Our stats show we put in over 20,000 people last year. But our
prisons are overcrowded, and they come right back here.''
Overall,
Nunn says, things are improving: The City's total crime rate is down
one percent this year. But murder seems out of control, with 72
homicides recorded through Thursday in comparison to 57 during the same
period last year.*
The killing takes a toll on Nunn, a
soft-spoken mother of two who used to play a mean shortstop in softball
and still attends the same Baptist church where she was baptized at age
eight.
In 2004, three Birmingham police officers were shot to
death as they entered a drug house trying to make an arrest. She helped
their families cope - and gave herself strength - by singing a hymn at
the funerals for the men.
``It was the first time I ever sang outside my church,'' she said.
It was also when she began to ask questions about her own faith and crime.
``There
was a point particularly after the officers were killed where I
wondered, `Is it my fault?'' Nunn said. ``I wasn't on the scene, and
there was nothing I could have done. But (I wondered) if it was as a
spiritual attack. I was looking at it that way.''
Some answers are hard to come by. And the questions came again this year as the City's homicide rate rose.
A stack of letters offering support rests near Nunn's desk, and she draws strength from people who promise to pray for her.
But sometimes it's quiet, and she can't help but wonder about the solution to what's going on in Birmingham.
``We've got to enforce the law. But we've got to change people's hearts,'' she said.
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DUI
& Driving Under The Influence:
Speak about DUIs :
We are all aware of the dangers involved and risks that are taken when people consume alcohol and get behind the wheel. Unfortunately, for some, adhering to the message has required harsh penalties such as loss of driving privileges and hefty fines, or even jail terms.
US DUI vs UK DUI :
The UK has a DUI accident rate less than half the USA, higher alcohol consumption per capita and more or less unlimited 24 hour access to alcohol for teenagers.
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