SCCDA office improves breath alcohol testing program

For release on November 15, 2023

CONTACT:
Ian Fitch
Crime Laboratory Director
(408) 808-6999

SCCDA office improves breath alcohol testing program

The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office has been awarded a $120,000 federal grant by the California Office of Traffic Safety that will streamline the way the DA’s Crime Laboratory processes thousands of breath alcohol tests every year.

The tests are the most common way to legally assess if drivers are illegally driving while intoxicated. In 2022, the Office filed 4,296 cases where the primary charge was Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol or Drugs.

“Our ultimate goal is to stop people from driving drunk,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said. “Thanks to this funding, we will hold accountable those who recklessly take the wheel and other people’s lives in their unsteady hands when they are intoxicated.”

The new grant will be used to purchase a laboratory management system for consolidating and streamlining testing processes and will greatly improve the efficiency of the DA Crime Lab’s breath alcohol program.

Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The grant program will run through September 2024.

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