Former Police Officer Tim Stone doesn’t
look like the kind of cop you want to get pulled over
by when you’ve been drinking deep in Tennessee.
But you’d be wrong, because Stone feels your pain.
He understands that the BAC is just a number and it’s
each individual’s tolerance for alcohol that determines
how ably you can drive a vehicle after ingesting alcohol.
The Breathalyser, he asserts, is a very fallible device
that can be fooled by an act as innocent as eating peanuts.
Just as many judges feel they have lost their power
to actually judge people due to mandatory minimum-sentencing
laws, many police officers secretly feel that the BAC
has taken away their ability to use common sense and
personal judgment on a case-by-case basis when it comes
to who can and cannot safely operate a vehicle.
It was this frustration which spurned Stone, while still
on the force, to release a video entitled:
How to Avoid a DUI. The 50 minute video tells you exactly how to
avoid falling prey to unfair drinking laws, all told
from the point of view of the guy who’s supposed
to arrest you.
The video was met, unsurpisingly, with a firestorm of
controversy. MADD and its agents in the media have tried
very hard to make Stone appear a traitor at best and
an accessory to every
DUI accident on the road at worst.
It is our opinion, however, that Stone was and is nothing
less than a modern day Serpico, an incorruptible and
courageous idealist almost single-handedly fighting
injustice from within a corrupted system.
Tivoni Devor: I’m pulled over by a police
officer. I’ve had a few drinks. The officer is
approaching my window. How should I behave?
Officer Tim Stone: The main thing is
to remain calm. People get freaked out when they are
pulled over, hell, I get freaked out when I’m
pulled over. Relax. Roll down your window. Get your
license, registration and insurance ready, it helps
to keep all your paperwork in a clearly marked envelope
in the glove box so you won’t have to dig around
for it. Keep your hands on the wheel, or where the officer
can see them. What you want to do is put the officer
at ease. You want to bring him down a notch.
Tivoni Devor: A cop once told me to not turn my head directly 
toward the officer, so
he can’t smell my breath.
OTS: That’s a good idea, but
you definitely want to make eye contact. I’d hold
my head at a slight angle away from the officer, but
not directly toward the windshield.
Tivoni Devor:
Should a driver ever submit to a Breathalyser?
OTS: Here’s the rule of thumb
on that: You can exercise your rights and refuse at
any time. If you know you’re over the legal limit,
which most people won’t know, I wouldn’t
do it. Why give evidence against yourself? That’s
like robbing a bank and sending the police department
a note a week ahead of time saying so.
Tivoni Devor:
The Attorney General of Wisconsin (Peg Lautenschlager)
was recently cited for DUI and she refused the blood test. Does she know something we don’t?
OTS: Yes, she does. She knew she was
probably
over the limit and was being smart about it.
If I was
stopped for a DUI, I wouldn’t walk, I
wouldn’t talk, I wouldn’t do anything that’s
going to help that officer articulate in his report
that you are
intoxicated. You will be arrested, but
you have to buck up and play the game. I don’t
believe in that implied consent crap, it’s blackmail.
I’d rather lose my license for a year than get
a
DUI charge.
Tivoni Devor:
Quite a few government officials, some very pro-MADD,
have been cited for DUI. Why does that happen?
OTS: They’re human. They’re
going to take their chances, they’re going to
roll the bones.
Tivoni Devor:
I think they’re willing to pass harsh DUI laws
then break them because they believe they’re above
the law, that they can talk their way out of it if they
do get pulled over.
OTS: Most certainly, though it really
depends on the officer. A lot of them get away with
it all the time. A person with political power has a
real good opportunity to scare that officer. If you
are a police officer, or at any level of law enforcement,
you are in a political game whether you like it or know
it or not. And if you arrest that person, you have to
think, what is this going to do to my future? It’s
wrong, but it’s reality. I once worked in a small
town as a police officer and the mayor was a known drunk.
There were officers who caught him , but instead of
arresting him, they’d follow him home. They catered
to him. I never believed in that. I figured if your
were making the laws, you were held to a higher standard.
Tivoni Devor:
What’s your take on roadside sobriety checkpoints?
Do you think they’re constitutional?
OTS: No, I don’t. I believe that’s
a violation of the Fourth Amendment.
Tivoni Devor:
What is it about current DUI laws that you are unhappy
with? What would you change?
OTS: Personally, I feel that new methods
should be created to determine accurate intoxication
levels on the side of the road, and that first offenses
near or at the legal limit should be simply given a
citation with a significant fine, their car towed, and
then be given the opportunity to take a taxi or call
a friend to pick them up.
Tivoni Devor:
Where would you like to see the BAC at?
OTS: Well, if we must have BAC-based
laws, I’d say .10. However, I believe BAC-based
laws should be eliminated. We need to work harder to
find new ways for law enforcement to accurately determine
the intoxication and control level of a
DUI suspect.
The numbered BAC system is simply a line in the sand
by which we judge people, but it doesn’t take
in to account individual tolerances, abilities, or physiology.
Tivoni Devor: I’ve always favored “tolerance
testing” where, if you can drive through an obstacle
course with a .25 BAC, you get a special license. Would
you vote for it?
OTS: Well, it’s an interesting
concept, but I don’t think legislators would ever
give such an idea a second thought. Unfortunately, it
seems that maybe we’re headed in the opposite
direction in which only people who can prove they don’t
drink at all can get a license.
Tivoni Devor:
What do your fellow officers think of you making this
tape?
OTS: Many of the officers who saw the
video had a positive reaction. In fact, I was assisted
by other departments and officers in my research for
the video, and some contributed to the writing of the
content for the video. Most could see the benefit in
it as an educational tool. However, we are not without
critics in the law enforcement community. Though most
who criticize the video have never seen it.
Tivoni Devor:
Did you expect to get such a negative response from
the mainstream media and MADD?
OTS: Most definitely. I expected a
general knee-jerk reaction, especially from MADD. MADD
is opposed to any multimedia that doesn’t promote
prohibition or abstinence. They often fail to look at
the core root of the problem, which is often inadequate
or poor information to casual drinkers. They consistently
fail to develop programs which could better educate
law enforcement. These two things could positively and
effectively work to improve the situation, but MADD
would rather just point the “just say no”
finger.
Tivoni Devor:
What’s MADD so mad about?
OTS: Well, if I was given a $50,000,000
annual budget to be mad with, I’d be mad all the
time too. Wouldn’t you?
Tivoni Devor:
The way it looks to me, I don’t think MADD will
stop until they attain total and complete prohibition.
OTS: MADD is an animal, a machine that
has went past the point of no return. It’s a monster
that has to keep eating. If it doesn’t it’ll
die. Candy Lightner (the deposed founder of MADD) said
it best. She said MADD is a neoprohibitionist movement
that has lost its focus. That should be put on every
billboard in the country.
Tivoni Devor:
MADD is slowly editing Lightner out of the history of
the organization.
OTS: They kicked her out because she
wasn’t for dropping the BAC to .08. She felt it
wasn’t warranted. By then there were so many people
involved, they saw that if they didn’t push for
.08 they were going to lose money and their foothold.
The have to keep lowering laws, they have to keep kicking
the average citizen’s ass to stay on Capitol Hill.
The have to tighten that noose every year to make it
look like they’re new and improved. When people
start waking up and see what MADD’s all about,
once their hidden agendas are exposed, MADD is going
to lose face value with the average citizen.
Tivoni Devor:
I recently read that MADD skims about $2,000,000 a year
from the fees DUI offenders pay to attend mandatory
Victim Impact Panels. It’s no wonder why they
want to keep dropping the BAC. It’s good for business.
OTS: Oh yeah. The DUI machine is a
multi-billion dollar operation, when you look at all
facets of it.
Tivoni Devor:
It has always amazed me how willing MADD is to twist
statistics. The definition of what an “alcohol-related
accident” is, for example.
OTS: You and I could be driving down
the road completely sober and have a friend in the back
seat who’s inebriated, and if we crashed and killed
everybody, they’d put that down as alcohol-related
fatalities. If a young male gets in a crash between
midnight and 4am, whether there’s alcohol involved
or not, it’s plugged in by NHTSA (National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration) as alcohol-related. They
want these statistics to stay inflated because NHTSA
has to have their grant money. They’re all in
bed together.
Tivoni Devor:
Has being MADD’s villain of the month helped you
sell tapes?
OTS: I don’t think so. I think
most people who buy the video are simply smart enough
to take the time to know their rights and to learn more
about the subject of DUI. Every casual drinker should
take the time to learn about what they are up against
every time they decide to drink and drive, so that they
might be better prepared and more aware of themselves
and how they fit into the DUI question.
Tivoni Devor:
Do you think it’s fair making a police officer
civilly liable if he lets a DUI suspect go?
OTS: No. I believe a law enforcement
officer is an asset to the community, because it takes
special people to take on the job of protecting the
public. It’s a dangerous job. I further feel that
federal, state, and local government should do everything
they can do to educate, train and protect the officer,
so they can make the best decisions. Which means the
government should always be the shield of those assets,
and should protect them from any such liability. Unfortunately,
officers are usually limited by the education and training
provided to them. With limited training these officers
are asked to make life-altering decisions. The best
defense law enforcement has is education.
Tivoni Devor:
How long can you milk the “mouth alcohol level”
thing? Can I burp, cough or vomit every 15 minutes for
a few hours and thus delay the test until my BAC drops?
(According to Tim’s Video a police officer must
observe a DUI suspect for a total of 20 minutes before
administering a Breathalyser to ensure that he did not
“burp, cough or vomit.” This is so the Breathalyser
will read the Blood Alcohol Content and not the “mouth
alcohol level.”)
OTS: Well, yes, you will lower your
BAC over time, but the officer is aware of this. Eventually
he’ll opt for another test, such as the blood
test.
Tivoni Devor:
Urban legend time—say you get pulled over and
the first thing you do is pull your keys from the ignition
and start chugging from a bottle of Jack Daniels in
front of the officer. Is that a way to beat a DUI charge?
Because how can he prove you weren’t totally sober
before you started chugging?
OTS: If that’s your plan, then
please, make sure you document the whole thing with
a camcorder. Not only do I want to see what happens,
but I’m sure you’re going to need it in
court. Of course, I’d be happy to place a copy
of that video on my website.
Tivoni Devor:
What drove you to make this video?
OTS: People asked me. Friends and people
who I arrested for DUI. They wanted to know what exactly
to do when they’re pulled over or
arrested for DUI. I realized the general public had no idea about
the subject and needed to know. A police officer who
was angry about the video told me this: “One of
the biggest tools that we have against the people is
they don’t know their rights.” They’re
preying on people that don’t know what’s
going on.
Tivoni Devor: And that’s where your video comes
in.
OTS: Exactly. I understand that, despite
any legislation, people are going to drink and drive.
The best way to change things is through education.
Most people only knew it was wrong. Of course, knowing
it was wrong never stopped them from drinking and driving.
They always assumed it wouldn’t happen to them,
that DUI was something that happened to someone else.
Tivoni Devor:
What’s next for Tim Stone?
OTS: For those who didn’t buy
the first video, we’re putting together a video
about what to do after you’ve received a DUI.
—Interview
by Tivoni Devor
