LAUREL — A Laurel police officer is working year-round to keep drunk drivers off the road, especially during high-risk periods like New Year's Eve when impaired driving deaths spike by 116% compared to regular days according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Officer Ryland Ratcliff with the Laurel Police Department serves on the Yellowstone County DUI Task Force, where he focuses on identifying and stopping impaired drivers before they can cause harm.
Watch Ryland Ratcliff talk about DUI enforcement:
"There is definitely a higher number of intoxicated drivers on New Year's," Ratcliff said on a ride along Wednesday.
During patrols, Ratcliff watches for telltale signs of impaired driving that many motorists might overlook.
"Are they staying straight in their lane? Are they excessively braking or changing their speed constantly for no apparent reason? Those are all indications of impaired driving. Also, you're looking for just basic equipment violations," Ratcliff said.
What starts as a routine traffic stop for something as simple as a broken taillight can quickly escalate into a DUI investigation.
"You can hear their slurred speech and kind of smell the odor of alcohol. And you just get all these indications from just talking to them as you would for a normal traffic stop," Ratcliff said.
Once officers detect signs of impairment, they can proceed with field sobriety tests and further investigation.
"You never know if one of those people potentially could cause a really harmful or even fatal accident if you didn't stop them," Ratcliff said.
Alcohol affects people differently, making it challenging to predict impairment levels based on behavior alone.
"You can have a person that is acting fine and talking fine, but you're still getting some signs of impairment and they end up blowing over double the limit," Ratcliff said. "Or you have people who are acting belligerent and like off the rocker, but they only blow like a 0.04."
Ratcliff recently received the Yellowstone County DUI Task Force Award of Merit after processing 15 DUIs within the year for the Laurel Police Department.
However, he emphasizes that his work isn't about the numbers.
"It's just wanting to keep people responsible for driving safely and keeping the dangerous drivers off the road," Ratcliff said.
The DUI Task Force operates as an elective assignment where officers can focus exclusively on traffic enforcement.
"We can come out on a shift where we're not responding to calls, we're not doing anything besides traffic and doing traffic enforcement and trying to find impaired drivers," Ratcliff said.
For Ratcliff, the recognition feels rewarding because it represents lives potentially saved.
"It's a good feeling to know that you got them off the road and you kept everybody else on the road safe," Ratcliff said.
This mission aligns with why he became a police officer in the first place.
"I like to keep people accountable for what they're doing and keep the responsible drivers safe and keep the irresponsible drivers accountable for their actions and make sure that everybody gets home safely to their families," Ratcliff said.
