San Rafael, CA -- The Marin County Probation Department conducted countywide unannounced checks on local probationers who had previous convictions for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
On Monday, December 19, two teams of Probation officers conducted searches at three residences and tested offenders for recent drug and alcohol use. One subject was arrested for being under the influence of alcohol.
According to health studies, Marin’s per-capita alcohol consumption is higher than 80% of the counties in the state. The U.S. has experienced a steady increase in alcohol mortality over the past 20 years according to the National Institutes of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns combined with industry deregulation led to a dramatic increase in alcohol-related death rates.
The Marin County Department of Health and Human Services offers a wide range of education, prevention, treatment, and counseling services to Marin residents to reduce the misuse of alcohol, opioids, and tobacco. County Probation also offers many resources to the clients it supervises to provide rehabilitation services and encourages that population to end the cycle of incarceration.
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.