BUFFALO, N.Y. — While DWI arrests made by New York State Police in Western New York decreased while many people stayed home in 2020, they are back on the rise.
"A lot of people working from home, the pandemic, a lot of places were closed, restaurants and different things, festivities. But here we are, you know, past 2021, and we saw a huge increase over top of 2020 and over top of 2019," said New York State Trooper James O'Callaghan, Public Information Officer for Troop A.
These numbers include DWI arrests for alcohol and drugs. DWI arrests in Western New York dropped in 2017 when ridesharing became legal in New York.
In 2019, Troop A covering Western New York made 859 DWI arrests. That number fell to 783 in 2020. Then it surpassed the 2019 number and grew to 969 last year. So far this year, Troop A has made 424 DWI arrests.
"We anticipate that to be even higher here in 2022, and one of the things we've taken note of, is the amount, it's a 100% increase for arrests for when it comes to DWI drugs comparatively to 2019 or 2020 into 2021," said Trooper James O'Callaghan.
There were 121 DWI arrests made in 2019 that were drug-related. In 2020, that number was 172. In 2021, it rose again to 280. So far this year, it's 99.
These arrests include all drugs, but Trooper O'Callaghan points out cannabis became legal for adult use in New York in March of last year. State Troopers are trained to try to identify whether someone is driving high.
"Sometimes the operator of the car is actually smoking marijuana or using drugs while operating the vehicle, or what we see is a passenger in the car is using as the vehicle is in motion. So a combination of those two. Obviously, with drugs being more available now with the legalization of marijuana, we are going to see an up-tick and what we're concentrating on is making sure that people know that it is still illegal to operate a motor vehicle while intoxicated by alcohol or drugs," said Trooper James O'Callaghan.
Also, if you're driving with children in the car with you, and you're driving while you're impaired by cannabis, you can be charged under Leandra's Law which carries additional penalties.