In Oxnard, Drunk Drivers May Have to Foot the Bill for Officers’ Time : Law enforcement: A proposal to make offenders reimburse the city is part of an aggressive new approach to road safety in a community plagued by alcohol-related accidents.

Drunk drivers arrested in Oxnard may soon have to reimburse the city for the time it takes police officers to impound their cars and book them into jail.

The proposal, which goes to the City Council for approval today, is part of an aggressive new approach aimed at reducing the number of people killed and injured in alcohol-related crashes.

Oxnard Police Traffic Sgt. John Crombach said a series of drunk-driving checkpoints staged on Oxnard Boulevard at the Pacific Coast Highway last year highlighted the severity of the city’s problem.

At each checkpoint, about 18 people were arrested--twice the state average for the number of drivers screened.

And in 1993, 57% of the traffic fatalities in Oxnard involved intoxicated drivers--13% higher than the national average.

“We’ve truly got a DUI problem in this city,” he said.

Under the program, any time police are forced to use their lights or siren to pull over a drunk driver, the driver may be billed up to $1,000--the maximum allowed by state law. Currently, the city bills only drivers involved in alcohol-related accidents.

Based on Oxnard’s experience in collecting money from drunk drivers, police officials expect to raise about $73,000 each year. That money will be used to buy a new patrol car and hire two officers who will concentrate on drunk-driving enforcement.

Said Police Chief Harold Hurtt: “We saw this as a way to full an unmet need.”

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In addition to the new billing program, Oxnard police hope to discourage drunk drivers with more random checkpoints. The department recently received a $25,000 state grant to purchase a mobile trailer, which will be used to hold suspects and equipment needed to set up the checkpoints.

Linda Finnerty, executive director of the Ventura County chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, praised the Police Department for trying new tactics to reduce drunk driving.

“If nothing else, it hopefully would be a good deterrent for them to know they have to pay that back,” she said.

Last year, 1,254 people were arrested in Oxnard for drunk driving. Of those, 253 were involved in accidents and were billed for police and fire response time.

Ventura County Deputy Dist. Atty. John Cardoza, who supervises the prosecution of misdemeanor crimes, said the expanded billing program may have a deterrent effect on chronic drinkers.

“Anything that might have an impact on keeping people from drinking and driving ought to be attempted,” he said.

Among Ventura County cities, Oxnard is alone in seeking to bill all drunk drivers, not just those involved in crashes.

Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley, Fillmore, Ventura, Camarillo, Moorpark and Santa Paula try to recover accident-related costs through a civil process or by requesting that a judge order the defendants to pay restitution. Port Hueneme is studying the issue.

State law says that cities may bill drunk drivers for “emergency response.”

Oxnard officials have interpreted that to mean “any time an officer uses overheard emergency lights or a siren,” Crombach said. Drivers arrested at a checkpoint or who are pulled over in a routine traffic stop could not be billed for city costs, he said.

Crombach said the program was modeled after a policy used by the city of San Jose.

If the plan is approved by the City Council, drivers arrested in Oxnard would be sent a bill within two days of being booked into jail. The bill would be based on the amount of time it takes an officer to check a driver’s blood-alcohol level, impound a car and write a report on the incident. Drivers will be billed at 93 cents a minute for an officer’s time and $1.01 for a firefighter’s time.

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Other cities have taken a narrower interpretation of the law. They believe that only drivers involved in accidents can be held responsible for police and fire time.

“That’s all our authority provides,” said Camarillo Finance Director Anita Bingham.

Bingham said she wouldn’t be surprised if someone challenged Oxnard’s billing policy in court.

“Let them be the test case,” she said. “I hope they win. It would be nice to recover some of that money.”