Ignition Interlock

1. Ignition Interlock Issues with Implementation Robert Iusi President, COPA

2. The Courts • Not sending paperwork to Probation/Monitor in timely fashion • Deleting ignition interlock condition • Refusing to order ignition interlock • Not using financial form provided by OPCA • Do not provide information on payment/waivers • Most do not understand law or process Probation told to report the Judges who do not follow the law but we do not feel this is our responsibility and puts us in an adversarial position with Courts .

3. Ownership of Vehicles • Remains great confusion over which vehicles the defendant owns or operates. • Not being ordered when defendant says they “got rid of car”- often times with no proof. • Not ordering it on other vehicles in household even when requested to do so by probation. • It takes considerable time for Probation to investigate in the PSI, information about vehicles in households. It is not our responsibility and we get no funding for this increased work. But it must be done.

4. Other Issues • Probation is ordered to supervise Parolees and defendants sentenced to jail, after the completion of their sentence for their mandatory 6 month interlock condition. This should be responsibility of Parole. • There are no repercussions/consequences if a person released on parole or from jail refuses to cooperate. They have already served their sentence. • There is no statue to transfer CD cases to other states. We are told to supervise case “remotely” when they live in another jurisdiction.

5. Vendor Issues • Units are not calibrated correctly • In some counties there is no vendor within 50 miles • Vendors are unresponsive to needs of county • Major delays in installation because the installer has no inventory from manufacturer. • Not being installed within 10 days as law requires

6. What Can Be Done Before the law sunsets in September 2011, it must be reviewed and revised and modifications made • Need to ensure that evidence based practice research is being implemented in the decisions made about who should be ordered to install ignition interlock devices. Currently all first time offenders who are convicted of DWI must install ignition interlock devices on their cars even though research shows that only 25% of that population will reoffend. This is not in keeping with evidenced based practices.

7. What Can Be Done • Carefully review the statistics before the law sunsets to see if in fact, as we suspect, that people are circumventing the law. Compare number of convictions for DWI vs. the actual number of installations. • Ensure that Probation is compensated 100% for the extra work they must do for the courts in the completion of the PSI and to monitor the offenders placed on ignition interlock. What little money is currently available is for one year only and does not cover the cost of the work done up front in the PSI.

8. In Closing Our main issues with this law are with undefined interpretation (“own or operate”) “enforcement” by the Courts, and  funding. Without changes, the law in regards to ignition interlock does little to make our communities safer. COPA encourages NYSAC to demand necessary changes