Tennessee Police In Hot Water After Arresting Over 600 Sober People For DUI Since 2017

Police in Tennessee are facing a harsh truth today. An investigation shows that they’ve collectively arrested over 600 people for DUI who had no alcohol or drugs at all in their bloodstream. The aftermath for those affected can have deep and long-lasting consequences too.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation handles DUI cases and the blood tests that go with them. Over the last seven years, they’ve processed roughly 15,000 such tests every year. Around a third of those tests indicated that arrested individuals had no alcohol in their systems. Of that third, 609 had no drugs or alcohol in their system.

More: Drunk Driving Deaths Hit Nearly 20-Year High Despite Fewer DUI Arrests

Local news station WSMV 4 broke that news as part of its “Sobering Problem” series where it investigates cases just like this. Alex Otte, executive director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving in Tennessee, told the outlet that “Nobody wants drunk drivers on the road, ever. But what does it say that we keep finding sober people being arrested for DUI? I have heard of those on a very limited scale and those are, of course, tragic for anyone involved.”

It’s worth noting about those who had a drug in their system that there is no word about what drug(s) that includes. As of 2021, some 66 percent of all Americans were on prescription drugs. Statistically, it’s very likely that some of the “negative alcohol” arrests include individuals who were on nothing more than their own prescription medication.

According to the TBI, 99 percent of the people it arrests do end up having a drug (again, no telling what drug it is) or alcohol in their system. That doesn’t do much for the folks who end up having to fight a bogus DUI charge for months. In some cases, it puts parenthood at risk, and in others, it puts jobs in jeopardy.

WSMV 4 actually uncovered this entire situation after a case garnered attention last April. A driver ended up in jail based on behavior at the scene of an accident. When that driver, William Rose, asked if he could take a breathalyzer test he was shocked at the answer: “He said, we don’t do breathalyzer in Rutherford County. We do the blood alcohol test at the station based on your behavior”. Eventually, he was cleared of the charges, but he had to wait months for this to happen as the TBI has a backlog of alcohol and toxicology tests to perform. “My life, for the last 17, 18 months, has been a nightmare,” Rose said.

This likely won’t be the last we hear of the situation though. WSMV 4 is still investigating the situation, requesting additional records and waiting to obtain information about 2024 arrests.

Image Credit: WSMV 4