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Hawaii Tribune-Herald Hilo, Hawaii Page 1 of 2 ~T61 ttxctiG L Print Page `~wr+' DUI Tiiiicketin is less on east ~ 9 C Big Island regions side with most DUIs Data shows increase in Bi Island g ~ 700 South Hilo drunken drivers ~ ,Kona 60D 'r Puna by Atan Schnepf ~ Tribune-Herald Staff Writer ~ = 500 ~ p 400 Although the east side of the Big Island is 300 ~ home to far more people than the west, 2t)~ ~ = it „ , M n W police here arrest far fewer people for , ~ ~ ~ ~ driving drunk. i toD ~ r ~ ~ ~ ~ "~t' ~ i "The east side probably has just as many ~ 'j ? "'i.. ' 5_, , impaired drivers," said Hawaii County 2002 2003 2004 2045 2006 Police Sgt. Dexter Veriato, the head of the Year department's Traffic Services Section. "For _ wmFw.>ra mas ~.K a., ~,~~w~,, ~ people on the east side, the chance of them getting caught is less." Of the island's eight police districts, South Hilo has ' he most people because it contains Hilo town, which had a population of about 40,000, according to the 2000 census. The biggest population concentration in the Kona police district is Kailua-Kona, which had a population of about 10,000 in 2000. Police in the Kona district regularly dish out twice as many DUIs as their counterparts on the east side, however. For instance, through Dec. 11 this year, tnere were 611 DUI arrests in the Kona district. South Hilo, with its much bigger population, had 313. Puna, with it burgeoning population, but lack of nightspots, had only 124 arrests. Hamakua had eight, North Hilo had, Ka'u had 39 while South Kohala and North Kohala had 70 and 10 respectively. "I wish I could put my finger on it," said Police Chief Lawrence Mahuna, who believes the west side's higher number of tourists has nothing to do with the disparity. "When you tourists who drink, they're going to drink in the hotel they're staying in or take a cab," he said. Veriato and Mahuna believe several factors come :~~co play, including manpower, geography, demographics and even the construction industry. Veriato pointed out that the Kona district has a cocentration of night spots, which doesn't thin resources like the more stretched-out environs of East Hawaii. That allows officers to saturate patrols on places line Alii Drive. There are also fewer main roads in and out of town on the west side, while drunk drivers in Hilo have a multitude of routes they can use to weave home. ~r/ "I think both sides enforce equally, but to avoid detection is harder in Kona," said County First Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Charlene Iboshi. http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/articles/2006/12/19/local news/localOl.prt 12/19/2006