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SFPD suspends preliminary alcohol screening devices after audit; DA to review DUI cases
Summary
The San Francisco Police Department pulled all preliminary alcohol screening (PAS) devices after an internal audit found required accuracy testing was not performed and calibration gas had expired; the traffic division and District Attorney's Office will determine the impact on DUI prosecutions.
The San Francisco Police Department on Feb. 15 said it has suspended use of all preliminary alcohol screening (PAS) handheld devices citywide after an internal audit found the department had been performing calibration checks but not the separate accuracy test required to certify the units.
"On February 10, the problems discovered in the PAS audit were due to only one of the two-pronged tests being done," Deputy Chief Jim Dudley told the Police Commission. He said further investigation revealed the calibration gas had expired in 2010 and, as a result, the department pulled all PAS devices from every district station and the Traffic Company.
Dudley said the department ordered new gas, asked the vendor to recertify all screening devices, instructed the vendor to redo training and to "train the trainers," and is reviewing written PAS-testing procedures. "We were doing the calibration, but we also should have been doing the accuracy," Dudley said. "Somewhere over the last 10 years, we lost the second part of the test."
Sergeant Tad Yamaguchi, who walked commissioners through how the PAS is used in the field, said the device is voluntary and intended as an additional tool for officers. "It's not a foundational piece of drunk driving cases," he said, but it "adds to my investigation" when officers decide probable cause exists.
Commissioners asked how often devices were certified; the Traffic Company said devices are tested weekly and described a program of bringing machines to traffic company for retesting. Dudley said the vendor will retrain officers and the department will revise policy to prevent a repeat.
The department said it is working with the San Francisco District Attorney's Office and the public defender to determine whether the PAS issue affects past or pending DUI cases. "Traffic Company is currently working with the District Attorney's Office to determine the impact on DUI cases, if any," Dudley said.
The commission did not take formal action on prosecutions at the hearing; Dudley said the department will provide follow-up as the vendor recertifies devices and the DA's office assesses case impacts.
