DWI is a danger to liberty because Officers have unlimited discretion to subjectively decide you are “intoxicated.” Combined with SFST junk science and you have a recipe for injustice.
What could make that situation even worse for the citizens of Texas? DWI arrest quotas. Austin DPS troopers operating under just such a system. These officers received memos stating that they had to make a minimum number of DWI arrests annualy.
What’s wrong with quotas? Cops chasing a number of arrests, and given wide discretion to interpret “intoxication” will arrest the innocent and spin the evidence.
I shudder to think how many innocent drivers were arrested so DPS troopers could meet their quota. I guarantee these innocent drivers all had “bloodshot and glassy eyes, slurred speech, and the odor of an alcoholic beverage” and that they all “failed” the HGN.
Texas is supposed to have laws against law enforcement quotas. However, I’m sure no one involved in this scandal will face any charges.