Sterling police say they’re dedicated to stopping OWI drivers

STERLING HEIGHTS — Sterling Heights police say they have been working to keep traffic enforcement strong, even as traffic safety analysts are pointing to a reported statewide increase in fatal intoxication-related crashes and fewer drunken driving arrests over a 10-year period.

A July 29 Bridge Michigan review of statewide traffic statistics revealed that fatal alcohol-related or drug-related traffic crashes have increased by around 40%, from 319 in 2014 to 445 in 2023.

The analysis also concluded that, within the same time span, police in Michigan have less frequently arrested drunken drivers — an estimated 25% decrease between 35,060 arrested in 2014 and 26,408 arrested in 2023.

Moreover, drunken driving arrests over that time period dipped in 67 out of 83 Michigan counties — in Macomb County, the decline was 15%, the report said.

Following the Bridge Michigan report, the Michigan Department of Transportation commented on the analysis in an email, calling the statistics “troubling.”

But Sterling Heights police Lt. Aaron Susalla, who is the lieutenant in charge of the department’s traffic division, had his own set of statistics to share for Sterling Heights.

Susalla said in an email that Sterling Heights’ number of operating-while-intoxicated crashes increased from 71 in 2021 to 90 in 2022, and then declined to 79 in 2023.

So far in 2024, the department has documented 45 such crashes, Susalla said. He added that that statistically puts the city on the course of a “rate trending lower since 2022 on a yearly basis.”

“I believe this is due to our department educating the public with Public Service Announcements, overtime details which target OWI drivers and get them off the roadways prior to an accident occurring, and drivers being more responsible when it comes to not getting behind the wheel after consuming alcohol,” Susalla said.

Susalla also said Sterling Heights has conducted an increasingly higher number of OWI arrests in recent years; 2021 had 128 arrests, 2022 had 199, 2023 had 273, and so far, the SHPD has made 161 OWI arrests in 2024, he said.

The lieutenant said the SHPD’s officers know the dangers that drunken drivers can create.

“With this concern in mind, our (officers) have training in detecting and investigating OWI drivers,” he said. “Putting this training to work, our officers are actively seeking to remove the dangers of OWI drivers from the roadways in Sterling Heights.”

According to Bridge Michigan, statewide, less traffic enforcement and a reported, estimated 2% decline in Michigan’s police officers between 2014 and 2023 were listed as possible factors behind the statewide statistics.

“There’s just less traffic enforcement,” said Jonathan Adkins, the CEO of the Governors Highway Safety Association, in the Bridge report, who added that some drivers are showing a “greater willingness to drive dangerously.”

“They don’t think they’re going to be caught,” Adkins added.

When asked whether police departments in general have been making road patrols less of a priority than before, Susalla said police departments now have many more responsibilities, such as social work, and helping treat mental health and addiction.

“With all of these provided services, officers are pulled off their road patrols for longer times to properly address these police calls,” he said.

But in the SHPD’s case, he said, there is a specialized Directed Patrol Unit staffed by a sergeant and four officers whose mission is to patrol subdivisions and handle “any detail within our community that requires a specifically directed solution.”

“Our Directed Patrol Unit does not go towards our shift minimums and they do not get dispatched to the every day police runs, so they are spending their work day conducting constant road patrols,” Susalla said.

Susalla said the department has multiple ways for residents to submit traffic complaints for enforcement, including the SeeClickFix app, Facebook and Instagram.

“We always put the highest priority on safety within our community, and knowing traffic issues can have an element of safety to them, we are always finding ways to increase efficiency,” he said.

“This allows us to target areas of concern, conduct traffic studies on those areas, and make modifications on signage and enforcement to curtail traffic issues on our roadways.”

Learn more about the Sterling Heights Police Department by visiting sterlingheights.gov and typing “Police Department” in the search bar.