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~,..~,.,_.4....y,..Y.~.~ <br /> <br /> Hawaii Tribune-Herald Hilo, Hawaii Page 2 of 2 <br /> That thins out the resources of east side officers try?ng to nab drunk drivers Veriato said. <br /> "If we set up on Banyan Drive, you're not going to catch a lot of people driving on the surface streets in <br /> town," Veriato said. <br /> That creates issues with manpower. To set up one road block on Banyan Drive at night, five officers <br /> must be present, Veriato said. Because there are two routes that lead out of Banyan Drive, people will <br /> simply avoid the roadblock if they know where it is and they often do. <br /> "Whenever we set up a roadblock, word spreads like wildfire," Veriato said. "That's how it works in a <br /> small town. People get on their cell phones and start calling their friends who go out." <br /> Mahuna said he believes enforcement is about equal on both sides, but that the Kona district has a <br /> more bustling nightlife. He said the west side's thriving construction industry also has a lot of <br /> employees who may want to have a few drinks after work. <br /> "When I look at the ages, when I look at the types of occupations, they would usually be in the <br /> construction industry," he said of the people being arrested for DUI on the west side. "I hate to say it, <br /> but it's basically true that it's younger males who are construction workers or in the hotel industry." <br /> Numbers also show the number of DUI arrests in Kona are increasing faster than on the east side. <br /> Between 2001 and 2005, the Kona's district arrests rose to 540 from 343, an increase of 57 percent. <br /> In South Hilo, however, arrests increased from 202 to 259, an increase of 28 percent. <br /> Veriato said that could change because administrators are weighing whether to spend grant money to <br /> beef up patrols to catch drunk drivers on the east side. <br /> "I think the impaired drivers on the east side are lucky that we haven't concentrated our resources like <br /> on the west side," Veriato said. <br /> Alan Schnepf can be reached at aschnepf~hawaiitribune-herald.com. <br /> All rights reserved. Copyright ©2006 Hawaii Tribune Herald. <br /> Content on this site may not be archived, retransmi"red, saved in a database, or used for any commercial <br /> purpose without the express written permission of Hawaii Tribune Herald. <br /> Close Window [x] <br /> http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/articles/2006/12/19/local news/localOl.prt 12/19/2006 <br /> <br />