Lately law enforcement has been trying new methods to catch and arrest DUI suspects. Kane County law enforcement is one recent county to try a more severe method of DUI detection. They have been attempting a No Refusal weekends, the most recent one taking place this last Thanksgiving. As part of it, suspects pulled over for suspicion of DUI who refuse to take a blood or breath test were still made to take a blood test because during the No Refusal event the authorities had judges on call who would issue warrants immediately for the tests to be taken and their blood searched.
What is interesting, though, is that it appears that even with the forced testing of DUI suspects, the police were not arresting more people than they had the year before. It turns out, it can be argued, that the no refusal did not actually correlate with catching drunk drivers. And yet, they are still claiming they would prefer to have a no refusal policy.
While other states have already mandated the no refusal concept, Illinois is one of the states that does not regularly have a phlebotomist on call or have the police officer trained to draw blood as part of a DUI arrest. The No Refusal event Kane County was done by planning ahead to have prosecutors and judges ready to issue warrants for the testing and a phlebotomist on call.
It is interesting that law enforcement, charged with upholding people's rights and protecting our liberties, would prefer to take away our rights for a method that is not yielding the desired rights. And yet, it appears this desire for the No Refusal is not going away.