foreign [Music] welcome to audit the audit where we sort out the who and what and the right and wrong of police interactions this episode covers preliminary alcohol screening devices driving while intoxicated and field sobriety tests and is brought To Us by law and crime networks Channel be sure to check out the description below and give them the credit that they deserve around 3 30 a.m on May 28 2022 in O'Fallon Missouri officer Nathan dye of the O'Fallon Police Department pulled over police chief Greg Hall of the neighboring Hazelwood Police Department for swerving while he was driving officer dye exited his Cruiser and approached Chief Hall's vehicle with his body camera on hi how you doing tonight sir uh do you have your driver license and insurance where you come from tonight I'm actually from these almost uh my castles Okay the reason why I pulled you over um you've been weaving quite a bit well I know because I was eating like uh okay eating while driving okay how long has it been since your last drink hours a couple hours okay um I'm a police officer where you work at least Hazelwood how long have you been out in Hazelwood oh wow you're a police chief everyone how about this Chief just how I feel comfortable knowing you're not intoxicated and you're okay to go can you uh can you just recite the alphabet starting with letter D and ending on the letter N without saying so D to end without saying [Music] to this Waterway and stuff and do you have your place ID and stuff with you Greg Hall says he's the chief of Hazelwood so Keith before I can let you drive I have to confirm you're not impaired okay so we could either start with the PBT see if it's necessary to do field sobriety or I could have you do some field sobriety tests okay now take your time Chief how much longer do you have left out at Hazelwood are you just nine months nine months you ready to be retired it's open so we'll do this and and go from there okay so deep breath for me Chief I'm gonna hold it just blow hard until that hang tight right here uh I'll get back with you okay you just live right up the street do you have your uh service handgun with you in here no you don't carry off duty I'll be right back with you so Chief Hazelwood he is Hammer drunk right now he's he's over too yeah officer dye informs his supervisor the chief Hall's blood alcohol concentration or BAC was over 0.2 percent when he performed the breath test according to section 577.012 of the Missouri Revised Statutes quote a person commits the offense of driving with excessive blood alcohol content if such person operates a vehicle while having eight hundredths of one percent or more by weight of alcohol in his or her blood this means the chief Hall's BAC was more than two and a half times higher than the so-called legal limit although individuals can be arrested for driving while intoxicated even if their BAC is less than 0.08 percent under section 577.010 of the Missouri Revised Statutes an individual commits the offense of driving while intoxicated if they operate a vehicle while in a so-called intoxicated condition which section 577.001 defines as quote when a person is under the influence of alcohol a controlled substance or drug or any combination thereof both driving while intoxicated and driving living with excessive blood alcohol content are class B misdemeanors for first-time offenders and an individual who operates a vehicle with a BAC higher than 0.2 percent is subject to a minimum term of imprisonment of five days however it's important to note that the roadside breath test that officer dye administered on Chief Hall was conducted with a preliminary alcohol screening or pass device Which is less accurate than the larger breathalyzer devices that officers use to collect evidence of an individual's BAC after they have been arrested and brought to the station for this reason section 577.021 of the Missouri revised Statute states that while pre-arrest roadside breath test results can be used to establish probable cause to make an arrest they are not admissible in court as evidence of blood alcohol content while the more accurate breath tests use at police stations generally have safeguards to prevent false positives past tests can return inaccurate higher results due to interference by residual mouth Alcohol and Other breath contaminants the term residual mouth alcohol refers to the alcohol that remains in an individual's mouth for about 15 minutes after they take a drink if an individual takes a pass breath test too soon after drinking the breath sample will include some of this leftover alcohol and the test result will be higher than the individual's true BAC for this reason officers are instructed to observe the subject for 15 to 20 minutes before conducting a breath test to ensure they don't consume any alcohol or products that contain alcohol such as cough syrup mouthwash or breath spray it does not appear from the body camera footage that officer dye followed this 15-minute rule he is hammered he was dodging sniper fire out there to weaving all over the place is it all on the dash cam yeah the driving and all the contacts so far yeah he's a country yeah complete butchered the alphabet you got fuel sobriety I haven't done field sobriety yet yeah this is a tough day and age man you know um when you have uh electronic things and Technology I didn't like to handle anything else all right it's your call that's eyes only you would just stare at the tip my finger right here okay you realize the position you're putting up in right I understand I'm not doing anything I'm sorry right foot in front of your left foot heel toe on that line keep your hands at your sides okay bad ankles how old are you sir 66. I'm just gonna have you stand like this or if you're not able to just stand like that let me just go ahead and explain demonstrate this test for you okay so when you get to your ninth step you're gonna leave your lead phone line take us here to small steps turn around take another series of nine heel toe steps back upon that yellow line okay until you've completed the test thank you I just need you to remember hang on one second for me sir I'm just not able to do this officer dye asks Chief Hall to perform several field sobriety tests the last of which he cannot complete the national highway traffic safety administration or nhtsa which is an agency of the U.S federal government and part of the Department of Transportation has developed and validated three standardized field sobriety tests that officers can use to assess whether an individual is intoxicated the horizontal gaze nystagmus test the walk and turn test and the one leg stand test while some officers may also perform other tests on individuals they suspect of driving while intoxicated these three tests are the most widely accepted in the law enforcement and legal communities of the three the horizontal gaze nystagmus test is thought to be the most reliable when administering this test an officer will have the subject follow the motion of a small stimulus such as the tip of a pen or pen light using only their eyes the officer will then observe the subject's eyes as they move from side to side looking for an involuntary jerking of the eyes known as nystagmus which becomes more noticeable as an individual's BAC increases according to the nhtsa this test is 88 accurate at detecting subjects at or above 0.08 BAC in addition to the horizontal gaze nystagmus test the nhtsa has recently recognized that vertical gaze nystagmus tests are also a reliable indicator of intoxication the vertical gaze nystagmus test is conducted in a similar manner to the horizontal test but instead of moving the stimulus from side to side the officer will move the stimulus up and down the other two standardized field sobriety tests are known as divided attention tests because they require the subject to concentrate on mental tasks and physical tasks at the same time the walk and turn test requires the subject to walk Heel To Toe for nine steps turn around and take nine Heel To Toe steps back to their starting location while counting their steps out loud and looking at their feet this allows officers to measure the subject's ability to follow instructions maintain balance and walk in a straight line among other the one leg stand test requires the subject to stand on one leg for 30 seconds while counting out loud so that the officer can assess their balance and ability to process information here it appears that officer die performed the horizontal gaze nystagmus and walk and turn tests on Chi fall but did not attempt to administer the one leg stand test you know what he's talking about I don't want to I also I mean you saw what happened in in Chicago right with it with their uh Chief fleece and they they look I'm liable this is all on camera how's it how's it look if I don't do my job John nesby chief neski he's on his way up here he's on his way and uh we did our job it's all being on camera I just don't like hey Chicago I'm sure you remember when that whole superintendent I gave curtain absolutely Gordon I gave a courtesy uh to my supervisor I wanted him to be aware of what our decision was and give him the opportunity to make a different one or contact the cheapest place and he contacted the chief of police and he lives down the street and he'll be here shortly all right perfect throughout the encounter officer dye makes several comments about an incident that occurred in Chicago when expressing his concerns about the possible results of this traffic stop he is likely referring to a 2019 Scandal involving the seven officers from the Chicago Police Department who were caught allowing former superintendent Eddie Johnson to continue driving after he was found illegally parked and intoxicated in a CPD vehicle on October 17 2019 Chicago police officers responded to a 9-1-1 call from a member of the public who found superintendent Johnson asleep at the wheel of a department vehicle while illegally parked in a lane of traffic the body camera footage showed that although seven officers were involved at the scene none of them administered a chemical breath test or any field sobriety tests instead they allowed superintendent Johnson to drive home while a supervising officer followed behind his vehicle the Chicago's office of Inspector General investigated the incident and uncovered video footage showing that earlier in the evening superintendent Johnson and subordinate officer Cynthia Donald had quote each consumed several large servings of rum the inspector General's office ultimately concluded that quote multiple sworn CPD Personnel failed to effectively carry out their duties by failing to conduct a competent investigation failing to gather the evidence necessary to determine whether the superintendent was fit to drive his vehicle and allowing the superintendent to drive his vehicle knowing he was unfit to drive as a result of this incident all seven officers involved were suspended superintendent Johnson announced his retirement less than a month after the incident and in December of 2019 Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot removed him from his position as superintendent demoting him to his former rank of Lieutenant superintendent Johnson then resigned a few days later in October of 2020 officer Donald who was caught on camera drinking with superintendent Johnson on the night that he was found sleeping in his vehicle filed a lawsuit accusing former superintendent Johnson of sexually assaulting and harassing her for several years former superintendent Johnson has denied these allegations and as of the date of writing this episode the case is still pending in federal court it is clear from officer dies multiple references to this comparable situation that he was concerned about the potential consequences of allowing Chief Hall to continue to drive particularly because everything that occurred was being captured on his body camera I will back you 100 in any decision you make on that don't want to lock up a chief he's hammered and he doesn't have vgn this is a common thing for him people get up here and decide when we're done here I'm going back on patrol Nathan if I take in home or you can have it not at all not at all I'm sorry to get you back here I just no no but I want to make sure that's okay because you do what you got to do if you don't mind I will take him home I know I have known him for a lot of years yeah and again it's hard to wake you up Chief nope nope nope that's okay he and I are gonna have a long talk on the way home sorry sir I'll take it nope nope you did your job O'Fallon Police Chief John neska arrived on the scene and proceeded to drive Chief Hall home without a citation or arrest Chief neska retired a few days later his retirement had apparently been planned for a year and the city claims it was unrelated to this incident a spokesperson for the Hazelwood Police Department refused to say whether Chief Hall is still in his position but as of the date of writing this episode he is still listed as the chief of police on the department's website the Saint Charles County prosecutor's office who would be responsible for pursuing charges against Chief Hall stated that the O'Fallon Police Department has not requested that the office review the case and even if the prosecutor's office attempted to pursue DWI charges it would face a battle in the courtroom Chief Hall's attorney Travis Noble claimed that the chief was not intoxicated when he was pulled over and criticized officer Dai For failing to observe Chief hall for 15 minutes before using the pass device and continuing with the walk and turn tests despite Chief Hall's alleged knee problems in a statement to the media Mr Noble stated that quote and they asked him to go to the state station and take a breath or blood test he would have done it and shown that this is not a situation where he was drinking and driving there's no indication that I've seen that he was drunk there's no evidence that would ever be presented in court and be able to show that he was driving under the influence of alcohol notably officer Dai received the Mothers Against Drunk Driving Award of Excellence in DWI enforcement in 2017 and 2018 while he was employed at the Ellisville Missouri police department overall the O'fallon officers get an F for showing obvious favoritism towards Chief Hall failing to collect the evidence necessary to gain a DWI conviction against him and driving him home with no consequences instead of arresting him as Chief Falls attorney pointed out it appears that officer dye made several mistakes during the pass and field sobriety testing that could allow the evidence to be attacked in court further even if officer dye had observed the 15-minute rule for the past test the BAC reading would not be admissible in court to prove Chief Hall's BAC by refusing to arrest Chief Hall and obtained a more accurate BAC reading at the station the officers failed to capture crucial evidence and made it much more difficult for chief Hall to be prosecuted although I appreciate the chief nesca drove Chief Hall home instead of allowing him to continue to drive it is inarguable that a citizen would have been arrested and prosecuted particularly given Chief Hall's excessively High BAC this kind of corruption and preferential treatment in police departments drives another wedge into an already divided society and makes it nearly impossible for citizens to trust the officers that are supposed to be serving their communities Chief Hall also gets an F for getting behind the wheel while clearly intoxicated driving recklessly due to his impaired condition and endangering the lives of everyone else on the road despite his attorney's claims Chief Hall seems to be noticeably impaired in the body camera footage and he seems to admit as much by apologizing to officer dye for his behavior while it is possible the chief Hall could be acquitted in court based on reasonable doubt that does not mean mean that he is innocent of driving while intoxicated and it is unfortunate that it does not appear that he has been held accountable for his actions let us know if there is an interaction or legal topic you would like us to discuss in the comments below thank you for watching and don't forget to check out my second channel for even more police interaction content [Music]