My 'Please Hire More Troopers' Letter Today to Utah State House Majority Leader Mike Schultz

----- Forwarded Message -----

From: "John McMillan" <mcmillanj@att.net>

To: "Mike Schultz" <mikeschultz@le.utah.gov>, "mballard@le.utah.gov" <mballard@le.utah.gov>, "Gay Lynn Bennion" <glbennion@le.utah.gov>, "Mike Schultz" <mikeschultz@le.utah.gov>, "Mike Weichers" <mweichers@ch.utah.gov>, "Paul A. Cutler" <pcutler@le.utah.gov>, "Angela Romero" <angelaromero@le.utah.gov>, "media@utahsafetycouncil.org" <media@utahsafetycouncil.org>, "utahdistrict02@gmail.com" <utahdistrict02@gmail.com>, "Internships" <internships@romney.senate.gov>, "Joel_wellum" <joel_wellum@lee.senate.gov>, "County Council Member Bradshaw" <arbradshaw@slco.org>, "Mayor Wilson" <mayor@slco.org>, "llstringham@slco.org" <llstringham@slco.org>, "suharrison@slco.org" <suharrison@slco.org>, "chad.atkinson" <chad.atkinson@slcgov.com>, "marie.stewart" <marie.stewart@slcgov.com>, "mike.brown" <mike.brown@slcgov.com>, "todd.mitchell" <todd.mitchell@slcgov.com>, "Cameron Roden" <croden@utah.gov>, "scott.stuck" <scott.stuck@slcgov.com>, "Drew Hadley" <drew.hadley@slcgov.com>, "Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall 2021" <mayor@slcgov.com>, "Salt Lake City (UT) City Council" <council.comments@slcgov.com>, "Deseret News 2022" <dnweb@deseretnews.com>, "newsmedia@ldschurch.org" <newsmedia@ldschurch.org>, "Him-roi" <him-roi@umail.utah.edu>, "contactus@imail.org" <contactus@imail.org>, "anielson@murrayschools.org" <anielson@murrayschools.org>, "Schools Utah Webmaster" <webmaster@schools.utah.gov>, "info@gop.com" <info@gop.com>, "leo.abila" <leo.abila@slcgov.com>, "Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson 2021" <beckiepage@utah.gov>, "Office of Gov. Spencer Cox" <govcomm@utah.gov>, "Attorney General of Utah" <uag@utah.gov>, "Uag" <uag@agutah.gov>, "utahcountycoalition@gmail.com" <utahcountycoalition@gmail.com>, "University of Utah Student Newspaper 2022" <press@chronicle.utah.edu>, "Utah Chiefs of Police Assn 2021" <vshupe@utahchiefs.org>, "Univ of Utah Criminology Dir. Heather Melton" <heather.melton@soc.utah.edu>, "kcullimore@le.utah.gov" <kcullimore@le.utah.gov>, "Mark A. Strong" <mstrong@le.utah.gov>, "Jplumb" <jplumb@le.utah.gov>, "Joel Briscoe" <jbriscoe@le.utah.gov>, "Joe Dougherty (DHHS)" <jdougherty@utah.gov>, "region8@dot.gov" <region8@dot.gov>, "slcpdpr@slcgov.com" <slcpdpr@slcgov.com>, "Fox News SLC 2022" <news@fox13now.com>

Cc: "jsweeney@sltrib.com" <jsweeney@sltrib.com>, "nbauer@abc4.com" <nbauer@abc4.com>, "nbauer@abc4.com" <nbauer@abc4.com>, "Jennifer Gardiner" <jgardiner@abc4.com>, "Utah Press Assn Director Brian Allfrey 2022" <ballfrey@utahpress.com>, "media@nsc.org" <media@nsc.org>, "Aaafoundation Info" <info@aaafoundation.org>, "ryanwilcox@le.utah.gov" <ryanwilcox@le.utah.gov>, "byu-info@byu.edu" <byu-info@byu.edu>, "sociology@byu.edu" <sociology@byu.edu>, "lish.harris@utahtech.edu" <lish.harris@utahtech.edu>, "amy.stutzenberger@uvu.edu" <amy.stutzenberger@uvu.edu>, "Molly Sween" <mollysween@weber.edu>, "dpscontact@utah.gov" <dpscontact@utah.gov>, "jessanderson@utah.gov" <jessanderson@utah.gov>, "DenverPostEditors" <newsroom@denverpost.com>, "Cyprus Credit Union" <shauna.denos@cypruscu.com>, "Utah Safety Council" <safety@utahsafetycouncil.org>, "Westminster College Legal-Risk Mgment-Safety2022" <bbuckley@westminstercollege.edu>, "Utah Public Radio 2022" <tom.williams@usu.edu>, "State of Utah Substance Use Advisory Council" <efklc@utah.gov>, "Utah State University Provost 2022" <provost@usu.edu>, "Utah State Univ Communications 2022" <ucom@usu.edu>

Sent: Fri, Jan 12, 2024 at 8:08 PM

Subject: 'BAC Limit' Law for UT Motorists is Currently Hindered

https://thehill.com/changing-america/resilience/smart-cities/593871-utah-changed-its-drunken-driving-threshold-and-crash/

January 12, 2024

Dear Utah State House Majority Leader Mike Schultz,

I am very grateful to you for your inspirational December 6, 2023, e-mail reply letter to me in which you invited me to share with you concerns of mine about Utah.

Above is an online  link to a 2022-dated and  copyrighted "Good News"  story about Utah.

Some key statements from that report:

"In 2019, after the lower BAC limit was enacted, Utah recorded 225 fatal car crashes and 248 fatalities, despite Utah drivers tracking an increase in vehicle miles traveled, while in 2016 there were 259 fatal crashes and 281 fatalities recorded.  

"Researchers calculated the fatal crash rate reduction from 2016 to 2019 in Utah was 19.8 percent and the fatality rate reduction was 18.3 percent."

Tragically,  there  has not been adequate progress in reducing the number of  fatal motor-vehicle accidents on Utahn roadways in the seven-year period since March 23, 2017.  That was the date when Utah Governor Gary Herbert signed a  a new state law for Utah  that lowered from .08 percent to .05 percent the maximum allowable concentration of blood alcohol in the  bloodstreams of Utahn motorists.

I am concerned that this truly great new state law, however life-saving it has been,  may have been undermined by the possible failure of  the  Utah Legislature to approve state funding for the hiring of 50 to 100  additional Utah Highway Patrol officers and additional municipal-police patrol officers in Utah.

Those additional officers are  needed in order to effectively enforce that state  law on a year-round basis. This is especially crucial because of the massive influx in recent years in the number of new Utahn residents from out of state ----- many of them being adult motorists who  drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes and consume cocaine or marijuana and swear profusely  and exceed the speed limit on highways and have prior criminal-conviction records.

Each of  the additional Utah Highway Patrol  officers and municipal-police patrol  officers needed to help enforce the "Utah BAC Limit Law" will have  extensive training and expertise. They will know how to immediately identify conduct on the roadway by a motorist in Utah that can justify pulling that motorist over and possibly arresting him or her on a charge of "Driving Under the Influence" . 

Those motorists charged in Utah  with  

"Driving Under the Influence" are also likely to include many  of the adult Utahns who, because of a recent state law for Utah, are  consuming "Legal Cannibus" or so-called "Medical" Marijuana  on a regular basis inside their home---- or elsewhere here in Utah.

House Majority Leader Schultz, I would also  like to call your attention to the following (directly below) online  link to a December 12, 2023, copyrighted "Daily Universe" online report --- a factual report sponsored by the academically first-rate  Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. The report was written by Ethan Porter.

https://universe.byu.edu/2023/12/12/utah-roads-see-a-significant-decrease-in-deadly-car-crashes-in-2023/

Some  key statements in that report:

"2023 has seen a significant decrease in the number of deadly auto crashes across the state, HOWEVER THE FIGURES STILL  SURPASS  THOSE  RECORDED IN 2018...(and) 2019(, RESPECTIVELY.)"

 (UPPER CASING and editing changes by me, John Kevin McMillan of Salt Lake City, for the sake of emphasis and clarification).

Increased Highway Patrol staffing for the Utah DPS is urgently  needed  to dramatically reduce the number of fatal motor-vehicle crashes and other injurious motor-vehicle crashes in Utah. 

This reduction can be achieved by an increased Utah Highway Patrol  presence on highways that enables faster removal from Utah  roadways of hundreds of additional  intoxicated or high-on-marijuana motorists per year ---- many of them motorists who will get  stopped by  State Troopers BEFORE an injurious collision can occur.

The most recent online report I found today stated that in Fiscal Year 2021, there were only "458 Sworn Officers" employed in the Utah Highway Patrol division of the Utah Department of Public Safety state agency.

That information comes from the following copyrighted  webpage:

"The Department's budget for Fiscal Year 2021 was $84 Million funded primarily by the State of Utah's General Fund. The Utah Highway Patrol is comprised of 458 Sworn Officers and 56 Civilians.

https://highwaypatrol.utah.gov › sites

"DPS/UHP - 2021 Annual Report - Utah Highway Patrol"
Utah House Majority Leader Schultz, I also  hope that you will ask the Utah House in early 2024 to approve funding for the broadcasting on television stations  and on radio stations throughout  Utah  of an incisive and very persuasive public-service announcement.  That announcement can urge  Utahns to "Drive Defensively Here in the Beehive State!" A possible alternative  slogan for that media publicity could be: "Stay Alive and Thrive Here in the Beehive State!"

I hope this follow-up letter is helpful to you and your  colleagues in the Utah State House,  Utah State  Senate, and State Government of Utah.

Sincerely and Best Wishes,

former Texas DPS full-time staff member and current Utahn permanent resident John Kevin McMillan, 535 South 200 East, Apt. 912, Ninth Floor, Salt Lake City, UT 84111.

My cell phone: (512) 993-7305.

My home phone: (801) 355-0850.