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UK Police To Publicly Shame Drunk Drivers On Twitter This Christmas

Posted by samzenpus on from the boys-of-the-surrey-pd-choir-were-singing-galway-bay dept.

An anonymous reader writes Sussex and Surrey police plan on fighting drunk driving with the help of twitter this Christmas. The police say that they will tweet details of accused intoxicated drivers, including: where, when, and who was stopped throughout December. From the article: "They're cruising the streets for embarrassing tweets. It's no secret that every year, the number of people driving under the influence of alcohol shoots up around Christmas. As part of its yearly crackdown, police in Sussex and Surrey are taking to Twitter to document the alcohol-related arrests they make on the road. Each snippet mentions where and when the motorist was pulled over, but also, more importantly, their name if they're eventually charged. Those who were stopped last year aren't getting off lightly either; officers are reportedly putting up posters to show exactly where motorists were caught over the limit."

4 of 256 comments (clear)

  1. Knee-jerk... by mythosaz · · Score: 4, Interesting

    My knee-jerk reaction is to say, "good, fuck 'em."

    Arrest records are public information, but we don't tweet out every one. Where do we set the line?

    1. Re:Knee-jerk... by AmiMoJo · · Score: 4, Interesting

      It's probably just leverage to "encourage" people to take a fine and points instead of contesting it. It will be similar to speeding accusations, where they accuse you but won't let you see any evidence, and give you the choice of just admitting it or going to court. Now they can throw in the added shame of being named on Twitter as encouragement.

      Start with the drunks, no-one will stand up for them. These people really are scum... The police I mean.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  2. There's no point in shame by quietwalker · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I know it feels good for the public at large, feels like karmic justice, but it doesn't hinder offenders.

    Having done a good deal of research into crime and punishment, it turns out that shaming punishments have no statistical impact on the chance they'll re-offend. Anyone who is even briefly ostracized from society will be at least as likely to turn to alcohol or drugs as they were before, and other potential impacts like losing their job or positions of respect further worsen the odds of recovery.

    What does work for DUI cases is to provide access to rehab clinics followed by support organizations, though apparently not any of the -anonymous ones like AA or NA, which have a worse-than-nothing recidivism rate.

  3. Elapsed time to this becoming a contest... by Sir+Realist · · Score: 4, Interesting

    3.2 seconds.

    Idiots who are rich enough to afford the ticket will probably take it as a badge of honor, and/or vie for getting pulled over in the weirdest places.

    I remember when they put breathalyzers in Australian pubs so people could check if they were legal to drive home... and then had to take them out again when people started having contests to see who could blow the highest BA levels before passing out.