One officer with the Selma Police Division is working to vary the current adverse notion of police within the media. Moms Towards Drunk Driving (MADD) lately acknowledged Officer Dwayne McPherson for being the highest arresting officer for impaired drivers throughout 2020.
“Officer McPherson’s MADD Award is predicated on his annual [16] DUI arrests in retaining our neighborhood secure,” stated Selma Police Chief Joseph Gomez in an official assertion. “He moreover has a status for… addressing gang crime and violence… and has subsequently been instrumental in decreasing gang shootings and really presumably gang murders within the Metropolis of Selma.”
This has been McPherson’s second recognition up to now three years. Different officers from the Bay and Fresno areas had been additionally acknowledged.
Officer McPherson has been with the Selma Police Division since 2017. He at present coordinates the division’s Unmanned Aerial Car (UAV) and was beforehand assigned to the Multi-Company Gang Enforcement Consortium (MAGEC).
Cops take away probably harmful drivers from the street after they arrest a driver impaired by extra substance use be it alcohol or one thing else, McPherson stated.
“Sadly, automobile stops associated to impaired driving are a standard incidence in legislation enforcement,” Officer McPherson commented in interview. “The Metropolis of Selma… is not any totally different.”
The Selma Police Division routinely conducts DUI investigations however not all result in an arrest. McPherson indicated the primary aim of any officer conducting a site visitors cease – together with himself – ought to be to have a constructive interplay with the automobile’s occupant(s).
“Site visitors stops very often flip lethal,” says McPherson. “It is usually a possibility to teach drivers on no matter infraction led to the cease. If I’m able to assist somebody turn into a greater driver… even when a quotation isn’t issued, I might say it’s a profitable cease.”
In keeping with the Facilities for Illness Management, California had 10,327 drunk driving-related deaths from 2003 to 2012.
Selma regionally noticed a lower in DUI arrests in 2020; this may be attributed to the COVID-19 Pandemic and statewide restrictions limiting entry to socializing in locations the place folks would usually devour alcohol earlier than driving below the affect.
Officer McPherson’s legislation enforcement presence in his neighborhood isn’t a buzzkill; he’s there to avoid wasting lives. The general public exists in an unstated partnership with legislation enforcement to be able to hold communities secure. Officers do their finest to take away drunk drivers from the street however they’ll’t be in every single place which is the place public participation might help by calling in attainable drunk drivers.
To view the livestream of the award ceremony, go to https://youtu.be/Uw3A6kp-3p0.
