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Fulton County DUI Laywers

The Georgia State Patrol Nighthawks DUI Task Force has been making 100+ DUI arrests each month in Atlanta, Buckhead, Sandy Springs and other areas of Fulton County, Dekalb County and Clayton County since 2004. Per officer, these specially-trained Troopers have more driving under the influence arrests per officer than any other police force in Georgia.

In 2009, newly  assigned Nighthawks Troopers began expanding to Gwinnett County (Lawrenceville-Duluth), Clarke County (Athens), Bulloch County (Statesboro) and Chatham County (Savannah). This new unit is called the DUI Nighthawks South Team. These roving patrols of Georgia troopers have saturated high traffic roadways and interstate corridors, bar districts, sporting events, metro Atlanta entertainment concerts to procure many arrests. The Nighthawks have also used roadblocks to get more late night DUI arrests after traffic volume have slowed down.

These Georgia State Patrol DUI Task Force officers made more DUI arrests in Fulton County, GA than all the Atlanta and Fulton County Police officers combined between 2004 and 2010. Most of the DUI charges made by this group begin with a traffic violation such as lane violation, speeding, no headlights or a stop sign violation. Almost 100% of the Nighthawks arrests are videotaped on digital cameras, and the state patrol cars are also specially equipped with rear seat microphones and may be videotaped, too.

Sobriety checkpoints at road block stops lack such traffic violations, and are often easier cases for trained DUI attorneys to win than arrests that begin with a “moving” violation, accident or equipment defect (such as rear light bulb out, or tag light not illuminating your tag).

The State Troopers assigned to the Night Hawks are given certain “performance standards” whereby each officer’s monthly arrests are counted. Troopers who regularly fail to obtain he requisite arrests get reassigned or rotated off the Nighthawks. Such “standards” are, in effect, DUI arrest quotas. The State of Georgia is receiving federal funding to support the unit (buying cars, cameras and other equipment) in making thousands of DUI arrests each year. Failure to get the requisite number of arrests, after taking federal funds, can result in the State of Georgia having to reimburse the federal government’s funding of the Nighthawks program.

All roadside sobriety tests (field sobriety evaluations) --- including hand-held breath analyzers --- are VOLUNTARY and OPTIONAL. Drivers who remain silent about alcohol consumption and decline to perform these non-mandatory exercises may have excellent legal issues to argue in Court about the sufficiency of the Trooper’s arrest decision. This is especially true for roadblock arrests. If a driver ultimately is arrested, and refuses to submit to a breath test at the station, he or she will be forced by many of these Troopers to give a blood sample. Yes, forcible blood testing is legal in our state. Since 2006, the Georgia legislature has authorized law enforcement officers to obtain a warrant to get your blood, even in a garden-variety DUI case.

This special Nighthawks DUI unit is not the first federally-funded specialty Georgia State Trooper group set up by the Governor’s office. In the 1990s, the “A Team” performed similar duties.

Because these officers are given the task of making thousands of DUI arrests annually and aggressively prosecuting these cases, you need an EXPERT Georgia DUI attorney to assist you. Call us now at 404-250-1113 or 877-384-4367, and get a FREE case evaluation and appointment with one of our highly-trained lawyers.

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