Enforcement following 0.08% BAC law change: sex-specific consequences of changing arrest practices?

Jennifer Schwartz; Ardavan Davaran

doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2013.04.004

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Enforcement following 0.08% BAC law change: sex-specific consequences of changing arrest practices?

Journal article

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Enforcement following 0.08% BAC law change: sex-specific consequences of changing arrest practices?

Jennifer Schwartz and Ardavan Davaran

Addictive behaviors, Vol.38(10), pp.2506-2512

10/2013

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2013.04.004

Handle:

https://hdl.handle.net/2376/101407

PMCID: PMC4259116

PMID: 23773958

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Abstract

Alcoholic Intoxication - epidemiology

United States - epidemiology

Alcohol Drinking - legislation & jurisprudence

Prevalence

Public Policy

Humans

Male

Alcohol Drinking - trends

Young Adult

Regression Analysis

Ethanol - blood

Automobile Driving - legislation & jurisprudence

Automobile Driving - statistics & numerical data

Crime - statistics & numerical data

Sex Distribution

Female

Law Enforcement

Crime - trends

Police - manpower

Alcoholic Intoxication - blood

Alcoholic Intoxication - prevention & control

Accidents, Traffic - prevention & control

This research evaluated effects of stricter 0.08% BAC drunken driving law on changes in sex-specific DUI arrest rates, controlling for increased law enforcement resources and shifts in DUI-related behaviors. Another main purpose, the study assessed female/male differences in arrest increases due to broader enforcement standards and efforts. Panel data was assembled for 24 states over 1990-2007 on DUI arrests, alcohol policy, law enforcement resources, drinking and drunken driving prevalence. Two-way fixed-effects seemingly unrelated regression models predicted female versus male changes in DUI arrests following implementation of lower legal limits of intoxication, net controls. Findings suggest, first, that a broader legal definition of drunken driving intending to officially sanction less serious offenders (0.08% vs. 0.10% BAC) was associated with increased DUI arrests for both sexes. Second, growth in specialized DUI-enforcement units also was related to increased arrests. Whereas male and female arrest trends were equally affected by the direct net-widening effects of 0.08% BAC alcohol-policy, specialized DUI-enforcement efforts to dig deeper into the offender-pool had stronger arrest-producing effects on females, particularly prior to law change. Specifying how changes in law and enforcement resources affect arrest outcomes is an important pre-cursor to alcohol-policy analyses of effectiveness. A potential unintended consequence, effects of law and enforcement may differ across population segments.

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Title: Enforcement following 0.08% BAC law change: sex-specific consequences of changing arrest practices?
Creators: Jennifer Schwartz - Department of Sociology,Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-4020, United States. schwartj@wsu.edu
Ardavan Davaran
Publication Details: Addictive behaviors, Vol.38(10), pp.2506-2512
Academic Unit: Sociology, Department of
Publisher: England
Grant note: R03 AA019555 / NIAAA NIH HHS 5R03AA019555-02 / NIAAA NIH HHS
Identifiers: 99900546629801842
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article