State to local officials: Keep an eye on bars

Some local town officials received a visit last week from the commissioner of the Department of Consumer Protection, who traveled to southeastern Connecticut to pitch an often underutilized tool in combating drunken driving.

The meetings with Montville, North Stonington and Preston officials were meant in part to urge them to have their police and citizens report drinking establishments that may be over-serving.

"We like to work with local communities to say, 'If you're encountering a problem … we need to know,' " said Commissioner Jerry Farrell Jr. "There are … a lot of different directions that we go to get out the message: Here are tools we can all use to get at this problem. This problem being number one, sales to an underage person, and number two, sales to intoxicated adults."

The Day reported in January that while state and local police made hundreds of intoxicated-driver arrests and conducted several weekends of sobriety checkpoints and increased patrols, most departments did not make referrals of the offending restaurant or bar that may have illegally over-served the driver. Those referrals can lead to an establishment having its liquor license suspended or revoked.

In December, Farrell sent a letter to the state's chiefs of police to remind them of their ability to refer an establishment to the state agency that could investigate whether any liquor regulations were broken.

Farrell's department oversees the Liquor Control Division. During the meetings last week he gave town officials information on steps liquor control can take if a problem with an establishment arises. The state agency recommends that departments send all DUI reports to the division. It also offers training for officers.

Since around the time Farrell sent his letter to the chiefs of police and The Day's report, Farrell said he has noticed an increase in submitted reports.

"I am seeing more of the [DUI reports] show up, so that's a good thing," he said. "We have gotten more. … I know my mail has had many more of those things since I sent out the letter in December."

In Montville, police are on pace to shatter the number of intoxicated-driver arrests officers made last year. In the first nine weeks of this year, officers made 55 DUI arrests. The department made 115 arrests in all of 2009.

However, department officials acknowledge that despite the increased number of DUI arrests, not enough referrals are being made.

"We need to do better," said Michael Collins, the town's resident state trooper. He added that he reviews every report from the town officers and if there's a pattern of drunken drivers coming from a particular establishment, then police will conduct a service check. He said officers have recently conducted more checks of local bars to make sure patrons are not being over-served and that there are no minors present.

Collins said a goal he set this year for the department was for officers to reduce the number of crashes that resulted in injuries. That led to an aggressive approach by a pair of officers working the overnight shift to combat impaired driving, a problem Collins said is prevalent in Montville because of the proximity of the state's two tribally owned casinos.

"It's a target-rich environment," he said.

Two officers, Gary Galdenzi and Addison Saffioti, have made at least 41 of the department's 55 DUI arrests. Galdenzi said he is motivated, in part, because of the crashes he's seen as a volunteer firefighter and EMT.

"When you see something like that," he said, "that has a lasting impression on you."

North Stonington First Selectman Nick Mullane met with Farrell last Friday and said he is working with the town's resident state troopers to make more referrals.

"I am consulting with my three resident troopers to make them aware of the forms," Mullane said. "If we can stop the source of where the liquor is provided, it will keep people off the road."

m.naughton@theday.com

Day staff writer Julianne Hanckel contributed to this report.