ID: cops with most DUI arrests win pizza!

Boise Guardian has faint praise for the latest BPD happy fun time initiative:

Beer and Pizza have always gone together, but under a new Boise Police internal contest, drivers with too many beers under their belt may inadvertently buy pizza for a cop... (E)ndorsed by Chief Mike Masterson, (o)fficers who win a monthly DUI arrest contest are rewarded with certificates for pizza, dinners and movie tickets...

Masterson told the GUARDIAN, "There is no reason you can’t have a little fun in law enforcement. I have no problem with it." The feature is in this week’s Boise Weekly by Shea Anderson. He talked to a public defender who didn’t seem pleased with the plan...

The public defender quoted is my good old Ada County boss, Al Trimming ("T-R-I-M-M-I-N-G, as in trimming your hair"). Here's what the chief p.d. had to say:

"A contest has certain cause for concern. I would hope, that in a desire to win the contest, that there would be no corner-cutting of any kind..." "There's a really strong public sentiment about DUI," Trimming said. "The public are the ones that fill juries. Public sentiment and public perception dictate law enforcement and design, and legislative intent."

But he remains skeptical of a contest among officers to haul in the most drunken perpetrators. He is wary, he says, of a crusader-like mentality among officers that can result in overzealous enforcement. "We rely, as citizens, on the fundamental integrity of our police officers," Trimming said. Therefore, having an officer in the room who is trying to win the city's contest, he said, is worrying...