South San Francisco, CA March 5, 2019 Submitted by SSFPD
On 03-02-19 at about 5:37 PM, an alert South San Francisco Police Officer saw a vehicle driving in front of him and he recognized the driver as a known DUI Repeat Offender on the Department’s “DUI Hot List”. The officer stopped the driver, 56-year old South City resident, Emmett Dwayne Barnes, for driving on a suspended driver’s license. Barnes was arrested, cited, and released upon a notice to appear. Barnes’ vehicle was towed and impounded for a minimum of 30 days.
Barnes is a multiple DUI offender with five prior convictions within the last seven years for driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs. Barrnes also has multiple prior convictions for driving on a suspended driver’s license. Barnes has eleven current suspensions and/or revocations of his driver’s license by the Department of Motor Vehicles. Barnes is also required to have an ignition interlock device installed upon his vehicle, which he did not have.
The South San Francisco Police Department works proactively with the Department of Motor Vehicles and the California Office of Traffic Safety on the “DUI Hot List” program. This is a program that identifies DUI repeat offenders with suspended drivers licenses. A comprehensive list of information on the drivers is compiled and maintained at the Department. Patrol and Traffic officers are provided with the list and they routinely conduct open and undercover surveillance operations upon the drivers.
Although not required, all drivers on the DUI Hot List are mailed informational notices about these surveillance operations and they are warned not to drive.
The South San Francisco Police Department also has a DUI Apprehension and Reduction (DART) team that routinely conducts enforcement and surveillance operations on the DUI Hot List offenders.
Funding for part of these operations comes from the California Office of Traffic Safety.