By
Sophia Voravong
svoravong@journalandcourier.com
Every two
months, convicted drunken
drivers gather at the
Tippecanoe County Office
Building to hear from
victims and survivors of
alcohol-related car crashes.
Now, the
$25 fee charged to each
offender as part of court
sentencing is giving local
police a new tool to get
impaired drivers off the
roadways.
The West
Central Indiana chapter of
Mothers Against Drunk
Driving on Monday presented
the Lafayette Police
Department with two
state-of-the-art portable
breath testers, or PBTs,
designed with an officer's
safety in mind.
"Any time
there's new technology,
anything innovative that
comes along makes it better
and safer," said Sgt. Max
Smith, who accepted the
Alco-Sensor FSTs on behalf
of the police department.
The $430
handheld machines, which can
sample breath even from an
unconscious person, were
purchased with the court
fees from the bimonthly MADD
Impact Panels, MADD member
Dan Towery said.
And unlike
old PBTs, they can be used
with just one hand, so
officers have easy access to
their weapons, if necessary,
Smith said.
Towery
said he is delivering two
more PBTs on Wednesday to
the Crawfordsville Police
Department.
