ROCKPORT — Rockport police have acquired a new replacement cruiser and right now it is an unmarked vehicle until the warmer weather arrives to add the identification decals. The public will see the new cruiser in action as part of the department’s increased operating-under-the-influence enforcement effort that the department will be implementing in April.

According to Chief Mark Kelley, the department stayed with the Dodge cruiser because their previous models have performed well. The transition of the interior electronic equipment is much easier with the same model, which is cost efficient and a savings for the taxpayers, he said.

Kelley described the new cruiser as the standard eight-cylinder pursuit vehicle, which is made by Dodge to perform better than a standard passenger model.

The “decommission process,” which involved removing the electronics from the older model to the new one, took approximately three days. The entire vehicle was rewired from the trunk to the hood and the existing laptop was also transferred.

Rockport Police Department was awarded a $5,000 grant from the Maine Bureau of Highway Safety, as part of the state agency’s “Drive Sober Maine” program. The grant provides federal funds to law enforcement agencies to reimburse the overtime costs incurred by their police officers for dedicated OUI details.

According to the state Bureau of Highway Safety, the goal of “Drive Sober Maine” is to identify and remove impaired drivers from the highways. It also serves as a deterrent to other drivers who are contemplating operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and reduces impaired driving related crashes, fatalities and injuries.

There has been a steady increase of OUI arrests in Rockport over the past three years. In 2012, there were 20 arrests, 24 arrests in 2013 and 39 arrests in 2014.

Kelley said, “The grant will allow for extra patrols to curtail and enforce OUI in the Rockport community.”

In Maine, it is a criminal offense to drive a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol content of 0.08 percent or higher.

The minimum court imposed penalties for conviction OUI for a first offense, with no aggravating factors, is a suspended license for 150 days and a $500 fine.

Minimum jail time for a first offense with aggravating factors is 48 hours, and also includes a 150-day license suspension and a $500 fine. Aggravating factors are described as a blood alcohol content of .15 percent or more, traveling 30 mph over the speed limit, attempting to elude a police offer or transporting a passenger under 21.

A “zero tolerance law” applies in Maine to drivers under 21 years of age. If drivers are found operating or attempting to operate a motor vehicle with any measurable amount of alcohol in their bodies, they will lose their license for one year. If there is a passenger under 21 years of age in the vehicle, an additional 180-day suspension is imposed. 

Sarah Shepherd can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com