Fortunately, this has not yet started in Collin or Dallas County. Apparently, the District Attorney's Office in Montgomery County, Texas has begun publsihing the names of those arrested for DWI in that County on the D.A's Twitter feed.
In a guest column in a local Collin County newspaper, the Frisco Texas police department has announced that it will be seeking blood from Driving While Intoxicated suspects over the upcoming Holidays. There is nothing per se unusual about this, but for the fact that they plan to conduct the blood draw at the Frisco Police station. The blood would be drawn from the suspect not at a hospita,l where there are facilites and equipment available to deal with an emergency should one arise, but in the confines of the Frisco Police Department.
The Texas Transportation Code section 724.017 requires that the the blood of a DWI suspect be drawn in a "sanitary place." Is the Frisco Police Department a sanitary place within the meaning of the law? The broader question, in my mind anway, is why? Is the need to obtain a blood sample so urgent that the police can't wait a few minutes to transport the arrested person to a hospital? Not at all. In fact, traditionally, blood draws have nearly alwsy been taken at a hospital. In my view, the convenience of having the blood drawn a the police station is vastly outweighed by the risks associated with sticking a needle into a person about whom the police know next to nothing. For example, the police will not know anything about the person's medical condition and history, allergies, etc.
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Dec 28, 09 01:34 PM DWI ARRESTS TO BE PUBLISHED ON TWITTER FEED Fortunately, this has not yet started in Collin or Dallas County. Apparently, the District Attorney's...
Dec 23, 09 11:18 AM FRISCO, TEXAS POLICE TO CONDUCT BLOOD DRAWS AT THE FRISCO POLICE STATION In a guest column in a local Collin County newspaper, the Frisco Texas police department...
