In many situations when a Wisconsin resident is stopped on suspicion of drunk driving, he must encounter a law enforcement official. The police officer or sheriff's deputy that he encounters is generally the one who initiated the stop of the driver and is the individual who will assess whether the driver is under the influence of alcohol. In a recent Wisconsin news story, a sheriff's deputy found himself on the other side of the squad car, facing drunk driving accusations and in the shoes of a suspected drunk driver.
A 37-year-old deputy based out of Waukesha County was arrested after attending a function for the new sheriff of his department. The deputy allegedly crashed his car while passing through the town of Genesee. After the accident he was arrested for suspected drunk driving.
It is unknown whether the deputy submitted to a breathalyzer test or if he was asked to complete field sobriety testing at the time law enforcement officials discovered his accident. The Waukesha County Sheriff's Department has chosen to review the matter itself as it determines what to do with its own multi-year veteran.
This story just goes to show that anyone can be arrested on drunk driving charges, even those individuals who are generally charged with enforcing the state's drunk driving laws. The potential consequences of a drunk driving arrest can be damaging to a person's livelihood; conviction on those charges can pose other and even more significant challenges to the affected individual as well. Whether a person is a law enforcement official or just a regular civilian, accusations of drunk driving can be damaging to the individual's future.
Source: whbl.com, "Waukesha County sheriff's deputy arrested for OWI after crash," Jan. 8, 2015