Alcohol is Not the Only Factor in the Climbing Number of DUI Arrests Made in Rutherford County

(RUTHERFORD COUNTY TN) – Last year, Tennessee Law Enforcement Officers made 18,757 DUI arrests statewide, which is a 3.03% increase compared to 2020. In Rutherford County, the number of DUI arrests climbed by 3% between 2020 and 2021.

If you break down the number of Driving Under the Influence arrests made in Rutherford County last year (2021), it amounts to 1.07 DUI arrests per every 1,000 residents – of course, not all of those residents have a driver’s license, let alone are old enough to even operate a motor vehicle. In total, there were 347 DUI arrests reported in Rutherford County in 2021.

Alcohol is not the only culprit behind the increased number of DUI charges. In many cases, drugs are tied to many of the DUI arrests. Rutherford County Assistant District Attorney Jerry Blythe stated... As Blythe shared, it's not uncommon for someone who is caught driving under the influence of drugs to overdose. In some instances, the overdose can lead to a fatal crash.

Between 2019 and 2021, the total number of overdose deaths in Rutherford County climbed by 37%. County Commissioner Pettus Read told WGNS NEWS… Read is part of the County Commission's Substance Abuse Awareness Task Force.

The number of DUI arrest's does not appear to be going down. In Murfreesboro alone, there have been 46 DUI arrests made in the past 58-days (between August 1st and September 27, 2022), according to crime mapping data provided by the Murfreesboro Police Department.

To hear the full interview with Assistant DA Jerry Blythe about DUI arrests and DUI charges, CLICK HERE.
For more information on combating drug use in Rutherford County, visit the Prevention Coalition for Success at PC4s.org.

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