DUI crackdown to expand with $50K grant under Target Zero plan in Thurston County

The Thurston County Sheriff’s Office (TCSO) will begin ramping up driving under the influence patrols under a $50,000 interagency grant approved by the Thurston County Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday, May 20.

Its enforcement campaign will generate nearly 700 hours of nighttime patrol coverage, concentrated on high-incidence periods, and will be scheduled through Sept. 30.

An agreement with the Washington Traffic Safety Commission authorizes the sheriff's office to deploy deputies certified in impaired driving enforcement and compensate them using overtime funds designated in the grant. 

“This is just for the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office. So, there is Traffic Safety Commission funding for all of the different organizations to do those emphasis patrols, but you’re talking about (a) smaller dollar amount. This is a pretty massive amount of overtime to fund over the next three to four months,” Sheriff Derek Sanders said. 

According to Sanders, the office originally applied for funding to bring on a full-time equivalent position dedicated solely to driving under the influence (DUI) enforcement. When that was turned down, the state agency circled back with a backup offer for overtime-specific deployment. 

The TCSO readily accepted the terms and is now preparing to post additional DUI patrols primarily on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings, Sanders said. 

Patrols will then be flexible in geography. 

“The Traffic Safety Commission doesn’t care where we get our DUIs from,” Sanders said. “They just want the DUIs off the road. This is one of those scenarios where they just want the DUI fatal corrects to cease.” 

Board Chair Tye Menser then asked if the extra patrols would be active in incorporated cities as well, or if the grant only applied to unincorporated parts of the county, where the TCSO is the sole law enforcement agency on duty. 

Sanders confirmed the grant allows operations anywhere in Thurston County, but added, “This is our funding. This is just for Thurston County Sheriff’s Office.” 

The grant reflects Washington’s adherence to the enforcement protocols of Target Zero, a policy roadmap to eliminate crash deaths by 2030. 

The Traffic Safety Commission has retained DUI as a standing target due to its quantifiable impact on vehicular homicide and serious injury trends. 

Handling a single DUI case often pulls a deputy away from patrol for hours, Sanders said. He said moving that workload to a dedicated unit would help keep regular patrols active across all districts. 

“A full DUI would take me about two hours off the road. So, if you have seven deputies working for 150,000 people in five districts, and two people get a DUI, you’re down to one deputy per district. That’s assuming that those two didn’t get it in the same district,” he said. 

In terms of how deputies would be compensated, Commissioner Emily Clouse inquired if the additional DUI patrol shifts would qualify as double-time pay or fall under standard overtime rates. 

Sanders clarified, “Only for the jail. This would be time and a half.” 

Using $80 as a rough hourly cost, Clouse estimated the funding would support 625 hours. Sanders said the office calculated an expected cost of $70 per hour, which would stretch the $50,000 grant across more than 700 hours, or nearly 100 dedicated patrol shifts. 

Only deputies certified to handle DUI arrests will be eligible for the overtime deal. The extra enforcement hours will be scheduled outside of regular duty assignments to avoid thinning out normal patrol coverage. 

“This is a good opportunity to have that dedicated DUI enforcement car driving around, taking a lot of that workload off the rest of the deputies as well,” Sanders said. 

The board, including Thurston County Manager Leonard Hernandez, acknowledged the department’s effort and recognized the added patrol capacity made possible through the grant. 

Sanders reported deployment planning is ongoing and will roll out once deputy assignments are confirmed. The grant will cover the full cost, requiring no additional budget allotment from the county.