Bend Police report making 602 DUII arrests in 2023, including 15 with a blood alcohol level of .30 or higher

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- In 2023, Bend Police arrested 602 people for driving under the influence of intoxicants, the agency said Thursday. That's a decline in arrests from 2022, when police arrested 693, but the numbers and details are still worrisome.

Here are a few statistics released Thursday about Bend's 2023 DUII arrests: 

Officers made the most DUII arrests in April (65). The average number of DUII arrests made each month was 50. 

Officers made the most arrests between the hours of 12 a.m. and 1 a.m., but DUIIs were recorded at all hours. Of the 602 DUII arrests in 2023, 108 (18 percent) were made between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m.

• 50 registered a Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) of .01 to .07 (8 percent of all arrests)
• 178 registered a BAC of .08 to .14 (30 percent)
• 122 registered a BAC of .15 to .19 (20 percent)
• 119 registered a BAC of .20 and above (20 percent) 
• 60 had only drugs in their system (10 percent) 
• The remainder are pending lab results.

The traffic team, including their DUII officers, accounted for 225 DUII arrests, about 37 percent of all arrests. 

Of those in the BAC range of .20% or higher, 47 were arrested between the hours of 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. That’s nearly 40 percent. 

Fifteen arrestees had a BAC of .30% or higher in 2023. That level of intoxication is so high that the Deschutes County Jail will not accept them without medical clearance from St. Charles Medical Center.

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

Of the 602 arrests, 198 (33 percent) 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.

"In 2024, the Bend Police Department remains committed to aggressively enforcing DUII in our city," the news release stated. "We ask our community to never get behind the wheel of a vehicle when you are impaired. Call a rideshare, taxi or friend or family member to make sure you get where you're going safely without putting anyone's lives at risk."