Bend PD reports nearly 35% jump in DUII arrests in 2022 due to stepped-up enforcement, offers details

22% had blood-alcohol content of .20 or higher; 15 topped .30

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Bend police released details Thursday about the record 684 DUII arrests officers made last year, a nearly 35% jump resulting from stepped-up enforcement.

Here's the full news release from Police Communications Manager Sheila Miller.

In 2021, the city of Bend Police Department’s annual survey found that DUIIs were one of the biggest concerns for our community, and that our community favored additional DUII enforcement. 

In 2022, our officers took that concern seriously, and arrested 684 people for DUII. That is a nearly 35 percent increase from our 2021 total of 509 DUII arrests. 

Here are a few stats about the 684 DUII arrests Bend Police made in 2022:

Officers made the most DUII arrests in March (80).

The average number of DUII arrests made each month was 57. 

Officers made the most arrests between 11 p.m. and 12 a.m., but DUIIs take place at all hours. Of the 684 DUII arrests in 2022, 152 were made between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. 

Bend Police’s dedicated DUII officers and traffic team combined to arrest 253 DUIIs in 2022 – nearly 37 percent of the total. 

Of the 684 arrests:

• 53 registered a Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) of .01 to .07 (8 percent of all arrests)
• 197 registered a BAC of .08 to .14 (29 percent)
• 150 registered a BAC of .15 to .19 (22 percent) 
• 153 registered a BAC of .20 and higher (22 percent)
• 107 registered a BAC of 0.0 (16 percent) * 
• The remainder are pending lab results

*This means they registered no alcohol, but BAC doesn’t measure drug impairment. 

Those who measure a 0.0% BAC were arrested due to signs of impairment (failing field sobriety tests, for example) that may have been drug-related. After their BAC measured 0.0%, some consented to a blood draw, and others completed a blood draw as the result of a search warrant. 

A variety of drugs were identified in DUII arrests. Those include THC, methamphetamine, morphine, methadone, fentanyl, cocaine, MDMA, suboxone and prescription drugs. Many DUIIs were for a combination of drugs, or a combination of drugs and alcohol. 

Of those in the BAC range of .20% or higher, 48 of those (31 percent) were arrested between the hours of 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. 

Fifteen arrestees blew a BAC of .30% or higher in 2022. That level of intoxication is so high that the Deschutes County Jail will not accept anyone at .30 or higher without medical clearance from St. Charles Bend. 

Of the 684 arrests, 249 required telephonic search warrants, which officers apply for when an arrestee declines to consent to a breathalyzer or blood draw, asks for an attorney, or whose breathalyzer test is not consistent with the level of impairment.