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NORTHAMPTON — Roughly 80 percent of the 120 drivers arrested last year for operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs within Northampton’s borders were not city residents.
That information comes from new data posted to the Northampton Police Department’s Open Data Portal. For the past few years, Police Chief Jody Kasper has been undertaking efforts to make information about the department’s activities easily accessible to the public. Just over a week into the new year, the department has released information on a few different topics, with plans to unveil more in the weeks ahead.
Although the number of charges and arrests for driving under the influence were consistent with years past, police did see an increase of those charged with operating a motor vehicle under the influence of drugs — from 4 percent in 2016 to 7.5 percent in 2017, or nine people, the data show.
“We’re keeping a close eye on our OUI drug impaired operators,” Kasper said.
With medical marijuana legal and recreational marijuana soon to become fully legalized, Kasper said the department is concerned about drivers impaired by marijuana or other medications and drugs.
The most arrests of impaired drivers occurred in April with a total of 15 people. August and July saw 14 and 13 arrests, respectively. October had the least amount of arrests for allegedly driving impaired, with only three. A majority of those arrested, or 69 percent, were male drivers.
More than three-fourths of the arrests were the result of motor vehicle stops initiated by officers, with speeding and marked lanes violations being the most common reasons drivers were stopped. Seventeen people were arrested following a call for a motor vehicle crash. Just over 20 percent of drivers faced subsequent offenses because they had previously been charged with OUI.
“Officers are out there proactively seeking this. They are not waiting for people to call us or accidents,” Kasper said. “They have a strong proactive approach.”
That initiative has not gone unnoticed. In October, officers Matthew Montini and Benjamin Beaver were honored by Mothers Against Drunk Driving Massachusetts for their work in OUI enforcement. The organization also honored all of the police department’s midnight shift for their enforcement work in 2016.
“It’s a priority for them and we appreciate that,” MADD Massachusetts Program Director Mary Kate DePamphilis said.
Over the next couple of months, the department will release more information on crime and policing statistics.
This year, Kasper and the department are also working to compile data on hate crimes following a challenge from the Police Data Initiative, of which the department is a member organization. At the time the Northampton Police Department accepted the challenge, the city was one of eight departments nationwide to make the commitment.
Kasper said she has already begun producing a rough draft of data set on the issue and expects to bring it to the open data team later this month.
In addition to the impaired operator data, information about firearms licensing was also uploaded last week. The department’s firearms licensing clerks and the overseeing lieutenant issued 235 firearms identification cards and licenses to carry. Both FID and LTC licenses are valid for six years.
Dealer and machine gun licenses are valid for three years. The city did not issue any dealer licenses. It issued two machine gun licenses, which according to police may be issued to those who qualify as either a certified Municipal Police Training Committee instructor or who are deemed “bonafide collectors.”
Those interested in looking at the available data can find the information at www.northamptonpd.com/npd-open-data-portal.
Emily Cutts can be reached at ecutts@gazettenet.com.
