In an effort to combat DUIs and keep the roads safe, Pinellas County law enforcement agencies employ DUI Wolf Packs. During holidays and weekends when alcohol consumption is high, these wolf packs consist of specially trained officers who patrol the county with the objective of identifying and apprehending impaired drivers. Over Memorial Day Weekend 2022, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office county-wide DUI wolf pack reported 28 DUIs and over 150 citations.

The wolf packs are typically set up to have saturated patrols in areas of the county where drinking and driving are most common. These areas often include:

• 4th Street in St. Petersburg leaving downtown
• Gulf Boulevard from St. Pete Beach up to Indian Rocks Beach
• The Memorial Causeway leaving Clearwater Beach
• US 19 North
• The Ulmerton Road/US19 interchange

The general strategy is to pull over as many people as possible to cast a wider net for catching impaired drivers. Common traffic stops during these wolf pack saturation patrols include speeding, expired registration, failure to maintain a single lane, inoperative head or tail lights, stopping past a stop bar, and driving while license suspended or revoked. 

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Just because you blew over the legal limit, that does not mean that you will be convicted of a DUI offense. Our top-rated Pinellas DUI defense lawyers can analyze the unique factors of your case to determine if a reduction to Reckless Driving is a reasonable possibility in your case. Here are some common ways that our highly ranked DUI defense attorneys can help secure a reduction to Reckless Driving even where our client has blown over the legal limit:

• In some cases, our client may qualify for a diversion program that would result in a reduction to Reckless even if you provided a breath or blood result above .08;
• In some cases, our office can use a mathematical formula called “Widmark’s Equation” to demonstrate that although our client was above the legal limit at the time the breath sample was collected, he would have been below the legal limit at the time of driving;
• Our office regularly conducts an analysis of the records associated with the breath testing instruments used to test our client’s breath alcohol levels. If we find problems with the maintenance and calibration of the machine, we may be able to secure a reduction in the charge by demonstrating that the evidence is not scientifically reliable; 
• We have found that some police officers will misstate the benefits of providing a breath sample or the consequences of refusing to submit to breath testing. In these cases, we can often use the “misinformation” to convince the prosecutor that a reduction to Reckless Driving is appropriate.

A Continuous Alcohol Monitoring (CAM) device monitors someone’s alcohol intake regularly. Often a bracelet or anklet form, this device measures the alcohol content in a person’s sweat. It is programmed to measure every 30 minutes and transmits the data to a monitoring center. 

If alcohol is detected in your system, an alert will be triggered, and you could face consequences such as additional fines for violating probation or pretrial release. If the CAM monitor was ordered as a condition of pretrial release, it is not uncommon that a positive alcohol consumption event will result in the Court issuing a warrant for your arrest.

Interstate compacts are defined as, “a contractual arrangement made between two or more states in which the assigned parties agree on a specific policy issue and either adopt a set of standards or cooperate on a particular regional or national matter.” Florida is a part of two different interstate compacts for traffic violations: the Driver License Compact (DLC) and the Non-Resident Violators Compact (NRVC).

If your home state is also a part of one of these interstate compacts, the details regarding your arrest and any DUI charges brought against you may be provided to governing authorities, and any penalties (such as driver’s license suspension) resulting from the traffic violation and charges may be enforced. Think your home state might be one of the lucky states excluded from this arrangement? Think again! You likely live in one of these states–only two states (Michigan and Wisconsin) are not a part of one of these interstate compacts.

If you’re facing a DUI charge, the first thing you should do is seek the help of a DUI defense attorney in Clearwater, FL with Russo, Pelletier & Sullivan, P.A. In our decades of practicing DUI defense, we have helped thousands of clients successfully get their licenses back after a DUI. 

Time is of the essence, as you only have ten calendar days from the time of your arrest to apply for a hardship license or request a hearing to challenge your license suspension. Therefore, it’s essential to act fast and contact a top DUI attorney in Clearwater at our firm immediately after the fact to help you navigate the process.