Impaired driving 'always a problem' in Clovis

Impaired driving within any community is a notable issue, said Clovis Police Capt. Roman Romero.

In Clovis, the numbers provide the evidence:

City police have logged 105 arrests for impaired driving or driving while intoxicated in the past two years, Romero said.

And Curry County has averaged two DWI-related fatalities each year for the last six.

“There’s always a problem with DWI’s,” Shelly Meeks said. Meeks is the Community DWI Programs manager for Curry County.

The county’s worst year for DWI fatalities was four, during the pandemic year of 2020, she said,

“Back in 2016, we had three and then every year after that up until 2020, it was just one and then 2020 which was you know, I don’t want to say it was because of the pandemic, but that was the major thing going on in 2020,” Meeks said.

Most of those recently convicted of DWI – 83% -- were between the ages of 21 and 50, Meeks said. Those are the numbers from the county’s compliance office, which means “they’ve gone through the court system and they were convicted of a DWI misdemeanor.”

But she said youth are also drinking and driving.

“According to the 2020 Youth Resiliency and Risk survey results, 8% of high school students reported drinking and driving in 2021 which is up 2% from 2017,” Meeks said.

Shauna Schwenn, the misdemeanor compliance supervisor for Curry County, said there is quite a list of punishments given to someone caught under the influence and behind the wheel.

“Once the whole court process is over, if it’s their first DWI, they’re sentenced to a year of probation,” she said. It doesn’t stop there, though.

“They’ll have to go to DWI school, they’ll have to attend what’s called a victim impact panel, they’ll have 24 hours of community service work,” Schwenn said.

They’ll also have to have the ignition interlock device put in for a year, which is a small breathalyzer that won’t allow the car to start unless the breath alcohol content is within the legal limit.

Schwenn said, “They also get screened for drug and alcohol abuse. And so, once they do that, and we see what their history involving alcohol or drugs is, sometimes they will have to attend counseling.”

The counseling can range anywhere from eight to 12 weeks, she said. That’s all just for a first DWI misdemeanor.

The Curry County DWI Task Force is always looking for members of the community who want to participate and volunteer. Meeks said anyone interested in helping out can email her at [email protected] or call 575-763-5639