Michigan police departments are using the BATmobile to catch a few jokers on the roads.
The Breath Alcohol Testing van, or BATmobile, is a vehicle used in processing drunken drivers by having blood alcohol level testing available on the scene.
The van is part of the high-tech equipment police are using in part of the Drive Michigan Safely Task Force campaign, “You Drink & Drive. You Lose.”
Betty Mercer, division director for the Michigan Office of Highway Safety and Planning, said while Batman won’t be driving, the vehicle still will be making the roads safe.
“One of the things we hear from law enforcement is the time it takes to process a drunken driver is quite lengthy,” she said.
The van, Mercer said, changes all that.
Armed with the necessary equipment to test, process and arrest a drunken driver, police now have more time to continue their patrols.
“This allows the officer to drop them off at this van and a transporting officer can simply take them to jail,” Mercer said.
The new equipment is being piloted in Michigan but has been used elsewhere.
Mercer said the BATmobile was paid for by a federal grant.
“We received (the equipment) a year ago and with the Fourth of July, we wanted to focus on (drunken drivers),” she said.
Last year Michigan recorded 22 traffic deaths during the Fourth of July period. More than half of the deaths involved alcohol.
The van has been housed and used in Holland since last year because of the city’s efforts to decrease drunken driving.
Holland police Sgt. Mark Bos said he has been asked plenty of times when he will be donning his gray tights and blue cape.
“We have run 25 people through,” he said, “I think it is a really good tool.”
Bos said he was on patrol and twice had two Michigan State troopers bring in three possible drunken drivers because the van was closer than a precinct.
While distance certainly is a factor, the BATmobile also helps make certain drunken drivers don’t sober up too quickly.
“You are going to get a more accurate reading of the blood alcohol level,” Bos said.
The reading, he said, will be closer to the time the driver was pulled over, otherwise the level will drop considerably.
Lansing police Officer Scott Ellis said these faster results are part of what made the BATmobile so attractive.
“We had heard from other states how it had helped police save time and provide an accurate blood alcohol level,” said Ellis, who is also the law enforcement liaison for the Highway Safety and Planning office.
Part of prosecuting cases, he said, is the blood alcohol level, and an accurate count goes a long way to helping. Ellis said he hopes to see more BATmobiles on the road in the future.
“We are researching to budget at least two next year, I can pretty much guarantee there will be more on the road,” Ellis said.
Homer Smith, executive director of the state office of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said the new equipment is a positive sign.
“It allows law enforcement to be more effective, and just the visibility of that vehicle is a good signal for folks,” he said. “If someone is going to meet some friends and they see it, they think, ‘You know, we need a designated driver.’”
