Equal Justice except for politicians

MADD has apparently developed a separate standard for politicians and police in its War on Drunk Driving:




MADD Supports OC Police in DUI Non-Arrest

Ocean City, MD. Jan. 12 -- Mothers Against Drunk Driving praised the Ocean City Police Department on Thursday for how officers handled the Oct. 29 traffic stop and non-arrest of Delaware State Rep. John C. Atkins.

MADD representatives were particularly quick to support decisions made by Pfc. Douglas A. Smith, OCPD's toughest DUI enforcement officer, who along with trainee Natalie R. Smolko, performed the stop.

OCPD came under fire when news broke that Smith and Smolko stopped Atkins, who was allegedly driving erratically and blew a .14 in his preliminary breath test, but decided against making a DUI arrest...

After Atkins blew nearly double the .08 legal limit, officers did conclude that he was unfit to re-enter traffic. He then contacted a friend, who drove him and his wife to their Millsboro home.

Atkins was arrested hours later by Millsboro police and charged with offensive touching -- a charge to which he pleaded guilty in December -- after a dispute with his wife.

Many in the community believed Atkins, who flashed his legislator ID to police during the stop, received preferential treatment in being let off with a warning...

Though the breath test result has been the sticking point in raising doubts about officers' handling of the incident, MADD Eastern Shore Victim Advocate David Elzey praised the proper use of the tool.

"He administered the (test) after he had decided not to make an arrest and he made the right call by not letting him continue driving," Elzey said. "He probably saved lives by not letting him drive home."

MADD representatives expressed absolute faith in Smith, who lost his mother-in-law to a drunken driver and who was himself struck by one in another incident...

"He's had a couple hundred DUI arrests in a few years," Elzey said. "Doug Smith has done so much. We have faith he knows what he's doing."


Isn't faith a wonderful thing?