Have you ever heard of a “wolfpack”? I don’t mean a pack of wolves. I’m talking about a group of police coming in to swarm an area suspected of having a lot of traffic violations. The official term for this is directed enforcement or selective enforcement, depending on the police force. They can catch a lot of violators, and they also have a psychological effect on normal citizens.

One recent wolfpack in Pinellas County, Florida ran from 8 PM to 5 AM and caught the following:

16 DUI’s
9 Driving while license suspended or revoked with knowledge
2 No valid driver’s license
3 Possession of controlled substance
3 Felony violation of probation
1 Grand theft
23 Driving While License Suspended or Revoked with knowledge citations
32 Speeding citations
2 Seatbelt citations
105 Citations for other moving and non-moving violations

Quite a number of citations and arrests for a 9 hour period! The goal of the patrol was to catch DUI offenders, but are these selective enforcement actions effective in catching people who were violating the law? That’s for the courts to decide. Seeing a lot of cops on the road all at once can make people very nervous and do things they wouldn’t normally do.

If you’ve been arrested for DUI as part of a selective enforcement action, seek legal help by calling the law office of Stephen Kellis, DUI defense attorney for the State of Pennsylvania.