What are the Police Allowed to do on a DUI Stop?
When police officers pull over and investigate someone they suspect may be committing the crime of driving drunk, they are required to abide by procedural guidelines, rules, and regulations. These regulations set guidelines for what police officers can and cannot do as they attempt to find evidence to support their suspicion of your DUI while protecting your rights in the process.
Routine measures the police are allowed to take on a DUI stop
- Question you.
- Search your vehicle. Probable cause and/or a warrant are justification for police to search your vehicle. However, if you offer your permission for them to search it, probable cause and a warrant are no longer necessary.
- Confiscate anything within plain sight.
- Request a blood alcohol test. Because Wisconsin is an implied consent state, when you drive with a license in Milwaukee, Waukesha, and throughout the state, you have already automatically consented to a chemical blood test.
- Arrest you for DUI charges. If circumstantial evidence such as hazardous driving, bloodshot or watery eyes, slurred speech, unbalanced coordination, or field sobriety tests support the theory or give probable cause to your intoxication you can be arrested by a presiding officer
What to do during a DUI stop
When you are stopped by a police officer and arrested for drunk driving charges, the officer is required to read you the Miranda warning. You will be informed that you have the right to remain silent, that anything you say can be used against you as evidence in court, that you have the right to consult with an attorney and have one present during questioning, and that you have the right to a lawyer at no cost to you if you cannot provide your own.
Created to protect you from self-incrimination, your right to remain silent under the Miranda warning should be exercised if you are stopped for a suspicion of DUI. Behaving calm and respectful to the police is okay, but allowing them to elicit evidence of your condition based on their judgment as they attempt to get you to chat can work against you in your case.
In addition to remaining silent and refraining from making any admissions to the officers, you are allowed to refuse to take field sobriety tests. These tests offer unreliable results and are difficult even for those who have not consumed alcohol to perform. Field sobriety tests do not determine the blood alcohol content of an individual, but rather are designed to give law enforcement officers justifiable reason to test your BAC when you fail.
What to do after your Waukesha drunk driving arrest
After a DUI arrest, you will need skilled defense to avoid or minimize punishment, which can include fines, jail time, demerit points on your traffic record, license suspension or revocation, and more. Hiring experienced DUI lawyers to help defend you from the charges against you is vital to the outcome of your case. Your lawyer will thoroughly investigate your arrest and if any of the evidence supporting your conviction is questionable, your lawyer will challenge that evidence.
Contact experienced Milwaukee DUI lawyers for your legal representation
If you have been arrested for drunk driving, you need an experienced, knowledgeable, and persistent lawyer to advocate your rights. For a free initial consultation with a Wisconsin DUI law firm known for its reputation of success, make an appointment at the law firm of Hayes & Rothstein.
