title: Enforcement following 0.08% BAC law change: sex-specific consequences of changing arrest practices?
abstract: This research evaluated effects of stricter 0.08% BAC drunken driving law on changes in sex-specific DUI arrest rates, controlling for increased law enforcement resources and shifts in DUI-related behaviors. Another main purpose, the study assessed female/male differences in arrest increases due to broader enforcement standards and efforts. Panel data was assembled for 24 states over 1990-2007 on DUI arrests, alcohol policy, law enforcement resources, drinking and drunken driving prevalence. Two-way fixed-effects seemingly unrelated regression models predicted female versus male changes in DUI arrests following implementation of lower legal limits of intoxication, net controls. Findings suggest, first, that a broader legal definition of drunken driving intending to officially sanction less serious offenders (0.08% vs. 0.10% BAC) was associated with increased DUI arrests for both sexes. Second, growth in specialized DUI-enforcement units also was related to increased arrests. Whereas male and female arrest trends were equally affected by the direct net-widening effects of 0.08% BAC alcohol-policy, specialized DUI-enforcement efforts to dig deeper into the offender-pool had stronger arrest-producing effects on females, particularly prior to law change. Specifying how changes in law and enforcement resources affect arrest outcomes is an important pre-cursor to alcohol-policy analyses of effectiveness. A potential unintended consequence, effects of law and enforcement may differ across population segments.
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology,Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-4020, United States. schwartj@wsu.edu
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schwartz
authors.forename: Ardavan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Davaran
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000517:prevention & control; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000639:trends*; D000435:Alcoholic Intoxication / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D001334:Automobile Driving / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003415:Crime / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends*; D000431:Ethanol / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D035846:Law Enforcement; D008297:Male; D016495:Police; D015995:Prevalence; D011640:Public Policy; D012044:Regression Analysis; D017678:Sex Distribution; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D000078329:Workforce; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000431:Ethanol
keywords: Alcohol-related public policy; Arrests; Driving under the influence; Sex differences; Trends in drinking behavior