Hunting drunks

They look like a couple of young guys cruisin' around on a Saturday night. They could be looking for a friendly venue to meet girls or listen to a band or shoot some pool. But what these two twentysomething guys are really doing is prowling the dark roads of Sonoma County looking for drunken drivers.

They have taught themselves how to spot, report, safely follow and track locations to police dispatchers in order to remove unsafe drivers from the streets. They've learned the police codes and understand dispatch response times.

They also know that some people think they're total jerks.

For "J," the 24-year-old founder of DrunkDriverHunters.com, the mission can be traced back to a serious accident four years ago when a 16-year-old drunken driver plowed into his passenger side door. Telling the story brings back the smell of wet roads, the frantic rush to the hospital and concern for an injured friend.

"This kid was 16 and afterwards blew a .12. My passenger was very badly hurt. It took 10 months until she was back to normal," said "J," who founded DrunkDriverHunters.com just over a year ago.

For a while after the crash, the sight of a car swerving or a driver not responding to a changed light upset him. What if that driver was drunk?

He figured maybe he could do something constructive about his tendency to notice drivers who might be driving under the influence. When his marketing job put him in his car for hundreds of miles each day, "J" thought about helping police. Soon, DrunkDriverHunters was born. For obvious reasons, those active with DrunkDriverHunters wish to remain anonymous.

When anyone dials 911, dispatchers answer every call. But do they want these DrunkDriverHunter calls?

"It is absolutely encouraged," said Mike Davis, CHP Golden Gate division public affairs officer.

What do Mothers Against Drunk Drivers think of regular people reporting impaired drivers?

"Fabulous. We say hurrah for them for doing that. Until you have been affected by drunk drivers you don't understand. Why should anyone lose their life because another person chose to drink and drive?" said Becky Wood, with MADD in Sacramento.

According to Wood, 17,602 people were killed or injured in the United States in 2006 because of drunken driving.

On a recent night, riding shotgun with "J" is "D," a college student who works nights. He jokes that the friendship grew mainly because they are both night owls, looking for something do do after 11 p.m. They commence their late night Highway 101 circuit that includes bars from Santa Rosa to Petaluma.

They spend some time in the parking lot of Rita's, a popular Santa Rosa restaurant that features a lively karaoke scene. What they found surprised them.

"A lot of people were drinking, having fun. What I saw in the parking lot were groups of friends with a plan and a designated driver. That's great," said "J" who handed out his card to police officers on the sidewalk, called out for a quickly quelled bar fight.

In police jargon, what "J" and "D" are doing by parking near a bar is "sandbagging," a term that implies a certain unfairness or bad sportsmanship. But really, if you're hunting for drunken drivers, do you cruise libraries?

"It's not like we're going into bars and buying people drinks. Once at The First Edition in Petaluma we saw a guy come out of a bar looking intoxicated, stumbling. He drove over a median, then headed off," "J" recalled.

The hunters started rolling videotape and called police. They began filming through their windshield, noting the drivers license plate, date, time and speeds on their own dashboard. Utilizing hands-free phones and a GPS system to relay streets to the police, they hung back as patrol cars swooped in.

It all makes for great video, with a copy going to police if they want it and a posting later on YouTube.

"This particular man was so intoxicated he couldn't remember his own name," said "J," who usually parks back a bit and films the field sobriety test.

The hunters have spent a lot of time around Petaluma. In 2006, Petaluma police arrested 455 drivers for drunken driving, and in 2007, they arrested 603, according to Sgt. Ken Savano.

"We always welcome information from citizens. We can't be everywhere all the time," said Savano.

It is common in an age of cell phone proliferation for drivers to see freeway signs encouraging the reporting of erratic or impaired drivers. The message on blue-and-white freeway signs is to call 911.

DrunkDriverHunters takes it a bit further. On their slick postcard-sized hand-out, which they give to anyone who might intersect with drinkers, is a list of city-specific Sonoma County dispatch phone numbers.

Their motto: You'll get caught. We make sure of it.

They think of themselves as an educational entity with a hands-on civic responsibility ethos. They want the public to join them in reporting impaired drivers. So far this year, they have watched nine drivers they called in get arrested for drunken driving.

Along the way, they've experienced a similar learning curve to new patrol officers. What might appear to be a drunken driver can turn out to be something else. The founder of DrunkDriverHunters feels if six out of 10 calls involve over-imbibing, he's having a similar night to an officer on patrol who doesn't cite every driver who's pulled over.

"Oh, I've learned that some people are sleepy, some are distracted or lost or sick or texting -- or they're just bad drivers. My impression is that our calls are appreciated," said "J."

On a typical cruising night, they crank up the music, litter the floorboards with snack wrappers and talk about mutual friends. "J" is the first to admit that he drinks in bars socially, but makes the point that he never would drive impaired. Indeed, he's known for his 45-minute marches home from happy hour.

"I'm not anti-drinking. I drink. But when I drink, I walk home or take a cab. Do the math on a cab. You could pay for one, three times a week and it would still be cheaper than one DUI," he said.

The hunters, who use their own cars and pay for their own gas, follow police advice by not following too closely, never inserting themselves between the driver and police and generally hanging back to just be good witnesses.

"We are not vigilantes. A lot of people, they don't want to get into a confrontation with a drunk or try to stop a drunk from driving. But what's so hard about calling the local police?" he said.

You can reach Staff Writer Rayne Wolfe at 521-5240 or rayne.wolfe@pressdemocrat.com.