San Rafael, CA – Officers from the Marin County Probation Department on December 9 worked with law enforcement partners to conduct surprise checks on 20 local probationers who had previous convictions for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. One subject under the supervision of Marin County Probation was arrested.
Probation officers check cabinets for alcoholic beverages during an unannounced search of a probationer’s home.The planned sweep of 27 DUI offenders’ residences was designed to check on compliance with the terms of probation. Four teams comprised of officers from Probation, the California Department of Corrections, and Coordination of Probation Enforcement (COPE) detectives searched the homes of convicted offenders, and 19 of 20 were found to be compliant. Seven offenders were not home.
One person was found in violation for being under the influence of alcohol. The subject was transported to a local hospital for medical clearance and subsequently booked into Marin County Jail.
According to health studies, Marin County’s per-capita alcohol consumption is higher than 80% of the counties in the state.
“Probation’s focus on limiting alcohol-related incidents continues to be a priority, and in-person compliance checks are imperative to reducing the likelihood of incidents,” said Probation Chief Marlon Washington.
In June 2019, County Probation was notified that it was one of the Office of Traffic and Safety grant recipients for supervision of high-risk DUI offenders. The grant funding empowers the department to provide quality-intensive supervision rather than having many of those convicted receive minimal contact. Probation has successfully met the requirements of that grant, which allows the department to continue to receive funding.
Probation has committed to DUI offender sweeps quarterly, unannounced probation searches, chemical testing, checks on interlock ignition devices, and encouraging treatment would be the main focus of supervision.