Hats off to Dyer’s ‘Bar Watch’ DUI arrest plan

The right road is sometimes the most bumpy. Once again, Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer is demonstrating real leadership and courage in an innovative and aggressive approach to saving lives.

Many years ago, he thought outside the box to combat loss of life in traffic collisions caused by DUI drivers and implemented an unprecedented tactic to arrest DUI drivers before they made it to our streets.

FPD’s “Operation Bar Watch” was a unique and controversial policing tactic that utilized highly trained plain-clothes officers to spot people who had too much to drink before they got into their cars. If those people made the choice to drive, they were quickly apprehended and booked for DUI.

Dyer took a lot of heat from those who mistakenly thought their rights and liberties were stepped on by being watched by officers while engaged in a lawful activity. Nonetheless, Operation Bar Watch was a legal, effective and efficient use of resources, and it worked.

Drunk drivers were apprehended but just as important, it got people talking about a serious problem and made them think twice about making the wrong choice when drinking. Hats off to FPD! That is real traffic safety leadership.

This story was originally published December 14, 2017 at 3:25 PM with the headline "Hats off to Dyer’s ‘Bar Watch’ DUI arrest plan."