Two Marion County Sheriff’s Office deputies were among the state’s top DUI enforcers and were honored last week at a statewide luncheon.
Michael Hudson, 175 arrests, and John Herrington, 85 arrests, received awards for their efforts during the 2017 calendar year. Other deputies combined for 133 arrests for an agency total of 393 DUI arrests, a number that impressed Sheriff Berkley Hall.
Hall said Herrington averaged 16 arrests per month (he only worked five months as a DUI officer) and Hudson averaged 14.5 per month.
“We’re doing our best to stay out and enforce the law, protect the highways and roads of Marion County and keep impaired drivers from behind the wheel,” the sheriff said.
Hall said the arrests were a combination of DUI (alcohol) and DUI (other substance) arrests and that DUI (other) arrests are up considerably.
“We get a lot of people who have smoked weed or who are on meth, pills and other substances. When you’re impaired, you’re simply not going to have control of that vehicle,” he said.
Hall said he’s pleased that grants from the Office of Highway Safety help the department keep the enforcement up.
“We’re blessed to have this grant that pays their salaries,” he said. “We pay benefits and furnish the car and we’re glad to do that. This puts an extra man on the road. They can only answer calls if an officer needs assistance in an emergency. Otherwise, they are out doing traffic enforcement. They also work all of our wrecks. The grants also allow deputies to go out on the road on overtime for enforcement. It’s great to have these extra deputies on the road. We have upwards of four or five deputies on the road on the weekends. This past weekend for Memorial Day we had eight arrests for DUI; it should have been more than that.”
Hall said Marion County was one of nine sheriff’s offices in the state represented, along with Covington, Desoto, Hancock, Hinds, Lauderdale, Madison, Neshoba and Simpson counties.
Hall said Hudson is entering his third year as a DUI officer and Herrington his second.
“They are doing a fantastic job,” he said. “They are both trained in field sobriety techniques. They have good conviction rates. They do it right. All of their stops are recorded. DUI officers have had in-car cameras for years; now they have body cameras. We’re pleased that they help keep our roads safe.”
