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OWI crackdown
OWI crackdown
DODGE COUNTY -- In an effort to combat drunk driving, the Dodge County Sheriff's Office on Friday, August 9 announced offenders names and booking photos will be posted on social media. The sheriff's office says the plan is just one more thing they can do to help save lives but some people feel it's just a form of online shaming.
"It's a culture problem in Wisconsin, in Dodge County," said Dodge County Sheriff Dale Schmidt.
Sheriff Dale Schmidt sees the problem as a never ending battle. He says the county's numbers don't show much of an improvement from 2018.
"We've had 119 impaired driving incidents just for Dodge County," said Sheriff Schmidt.
They are well on track to surpass last year's numbers when deputies responded to over 200 impaired driving incidents.
Dale Schmidt
"We've had nine fatal crashes this year, three of them involving alcohol in some way," said Schmidt.
Sheriff Schmidt announced his office will begin sharing the booking photos of those arrested for drunk driving in Dodge County.
"This is a public record. It is an open record that if anyone would ask for we provide to them," said Shmidt.
In the court of public opinion, several social media comments pointed to the public shaming a person may face.
"I think it could go both ways, it could be used as shaming but I think drunk driving is such a problem in this state it might discourage it a little bit," said a woman from Dodge County.
Those that live in the community are town on how much of a difference the strategy will make.
"I think it will help to a degree, I mean people are still going to do it unfortunately," said a man from Dodge County.
The sheriff insists the new strategy is not meant to humiliate anyone.
"This is not about shaming anyone," Sheriff Schmidt said. "It is about letting the public know we're going to hold people accountable... for putting other people's lives at risk."
The entire release shared by the Dodge County Sheriff's Department can be read below: