- MADD Roll Call Series | MADD Law Enforcement Impaired Driving Roll Call Video Series
- MADD’s 2021 Court Monitoring Report | Effective Court Monitoring
- MADD/Ipsos Poll | Consumers Support Drunk Driving Prevention Systems in Cars
- DRUG-IMPAIRED DRIVING ENFORCEMENT TRAINING (DIDET) | Get support for your DIDET program!
- Drug Impaired Driving Enforcement
Training Opportunities Available | Training in Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement (ARIDE) and as Drug Recognition Experts (DRE) - Drugged Driving | Dangers of Prescription Drug Consumption and Driving
- MADD’s Marijuana Survey Report | Misconceptions about Marijuana Consumption and Driving
- Legislation | Check Out Your State’s Legislature
- NHTSA Traffic Safety Facts | Overview of Motor Vehicle Crashes in 2019
- NHTSA | State Alcohol-Impaired Driving Estimates for 2018
- NHTSA Early Estimates of Motor Vehicle Traffic Fatalities | First Quarter of 2020
- NTHSA RFI | Available or late-stage technology under development for impaired driving detection and mitigation
- TOOFS | MADD and Waymo’s Tie-One-On For Safety Holiday Campaign
- 2021 National Lifesavers Conference | Register
- IACP | Traffic Enforcement During the COVID-19 Pandemic Processing DUIs during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Considerations for Law Enforcement Safe, Quick Clearance of Traffic Incidents toolkit Policy Framework for Improved Community-Police Engagement
- Warriors’ Ascent | Providing hope and healing to Veterans and First Responders suffering from Post Traumatic Stress
Law Enforcement Support

Officer Kevin Will, Houston, Texas Police Department
Memorial Day weekend has historically been a very active weekend for officers to deal with impaired drivers. May 29, 2011 was a special time for The Houston Police Department’s DWI Task Force and Vehicular Crimes Division. Officer Lloyd Morrison, who had been struck by two different impaired drivers Memorial Day Weekend 2009, was making his first visit back to the department and celebrating the holiday with his former co-workers. Vehicular Crimes Investigator Kevin Will was dispatched to work a hit and run crash in the 100 block of the North Loop. Officer Will and other VCD investigators were on the scene for an extended period taking photos and measurements. At approximately 3:15am, Johan Rodriguez disregarded the officers that were blocking the freeway and drove around them at a very high rate of speed. Rodriguez sped up on the closed freeway and struck Officer Will, killing him instantly. The investigation showed that Rodriguez was driving approximately 90 mph and had a BAC of .19.
In June of 2012, Rodriguez pled guilty to Intoxication Manslaughter of a Peace Officer and was sentenced to 55 years in prison. At the time, it was the longest sentence handed out in the State of Texas for a single count of Intoxication Manslaughter.
Kevin Will left behind his wife Alisha, who was pregnant at the time of his death. His son, Kevin Will Jr, was born in August of 2011.
Editor’s note: In conjunction with the National Law Enforcement Memorial Week and Day, MADD honors the nearly 22,000 law enforcement officers who have paid the ultimate sacrifice and have been killed in the line of duty in our nation’s history. This year 307 new names have been engraved on the walls of the National Law Enforcement Memorial in Washington D.C.

Art Acevedo
Chief of Police
Houston Police Department
As the fourth largest city in the United States – and soon to be the third largest – Houston has always had a serious issue with impaired driving. In fact, Houston has consistently been at the top of the list year-after-year when it comes to DWI-related fatal crashes. The Houston Police Department (HPD) has made a conscious effort to bring down the number of DWI-related fatal crashes, and over the last 18 months have made many changes to become better as a department at recognizing and arresting those impaired drivers. This has not been an easy process, and was met with some resistance; however, the results have been better than we could have hoped for when we started.
Since 2005, all new HPD officers have come out of the police academy with the requisite training to conduct the Standard Field Sobriety Testing (SFST), but we found that their training was not being used properly and we knew that we needed fundamental changes to the program.
Accordingly, the first step in the process was to conduct a DWI overview class for all 5,300 HPD officers. This was completed as part of our annual in-service training classes as a four-hour block of training. The next step in the process was our Field Training Instructors or FTIs. We knew that many FTIs were not comfortable with the DWI process, which also led to the FTIs avoiding DWI arrests with their probationary officers. If the new officers were not exposed to DWIs while training, then the chances of them wanting to process DWIs after training were also not good.
Starting in late 2018, every FTI in the department went through an 8-hour SFST update class to help them become more proficient with the tests. Once the trainers were up to speed, we mandated that each probationary officer would have to complete five (5) DWI investigations prior to completing the field training program. The result of this has been hundreds of new officers that are not afraid of the DWI cases, and many new officers that have made it a point to be on the lookout for DWI’s after they complete training. The next change came for our DWI Task Force.
Over the years, the 25-person DWI Task Force of HPD had become a purely reactive unit that mostly assisted patrol units with DWIs or worked DWIs as a result of crashes, instead of being proactive and actively looking for the DWI’s before crashes happen. In January 2019, the HPD DWI Task Force stopped taking cases from patrol – exceptions being those cases that involved serious bodily injury and fatal crashes wherein conducting Drug Influence Evaluations were needed.
Given the background above, the results of all of this additional training provided a substantial increase in our DWI-related arrests. In 2018, HPD made 5,150 DWI arrests, which had been a slight increase over 2017. In 2019, HPD made 8,675 arrests, which is the most in the history of our department, and a 68% increase. While HPD has made great strides, we are not done with improving our response and actions to this deadly and devastating crime.
Earlier this year, HPD was the first law enforcement agency in the State of Texas to teach the Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement (ARIDE) course in-house. As such, the Houston Police Department will continue to provide training for our officers, and with an increase in drugged driving cases, ARIDE will be a vitally important tool for our patrol officers in the future.
When I began my law enforcement career in 1986 as a young California Highway Patrol (CHP) Officer in East Los Angeles, it didn’t take long for me to witness, first-hand, the life-changing and deadly consequences of a DWI. As the number of deadly scenes I had to visit mounted quickly, my resolve was to do everything I could possibly do to protect my first responder family and the community from the scourge of DWI. I sought advanced training, including Advanced Drug Recognition Expert Certification, and became one of the inaugural members of the CHP Southern Division Impaired Driver Task Force (IDTF). Due to the diligence of the IDTF team, we were able to significantly reduce both the number of DWI crashes and the mileage death rate in our jurisdiction.
It is now 34 years later and I am proud of being part of a profession and an HPD family that saves lives each and every day with our tireless pursuit of those who selfishly place us all at risk by committing the crime of DWI. I am also grateful for the amazing body of work and the positive impact that Mothers Against Drunk Driving or MADD has had in our fight to combat these dreadful crimes. For nearly 40 years, MADD has stood strong, side-by-side, with the men and women of law enforcement and have helped us save lives. So here’s to the men and women in blue, and our MADD partners. See you all out on the road as we continue on our journey to a world with zero traffic deaths stemming from DWI.
Please be safe and holler if HPD can be of assistance!

MADD May Law Enforcement Officer of the Month
Lieutenant Victor Tyson
Pooler Police Department, Pooler, Georgia
LT Victor Tyson is the Traffic Commander for the Pooler Police Department in Pooler, Georgia. He is a certified Drug Recognition Expert, Field Sobriety Test Instructor, and a Traffic Accident Reconstruction Specialist. He is also certified in both LIDAR and RADAR and is a certified car seat technician.
LT. Tyson hosts and educates officers not only in his municipality, but in other jurisdictions as well, on the Standardized Field Sobriety Testing that will assist officers in the removal of impaired drivers from Georgia roadways.
Under his command, there was a 34% increase of DUI drivers removed from the roadways in the Pooler area compared to the previous year. In September of 2019, LT Tyson helped to secure a $26,000 grant to purchase a DUI simulator. This simulator includes items to educate the community and schools on how alcohol and marijuana effects a person when they are operating a motor vehicle.
His traffic unit also uses that equipment to partner with MADD to speak to military members about the consequences of their actions if they use alcohol or drugs when they drive or drink underage. Anytime that MADD has ever needed assistance with an event in the community, they can reach out LT Tyson and his unit and they are more than willing to help with anything MADD needs.
Since 2012, LT Tyson has received (2) DRE 50+ Evaluation Pins, (4) 25+ DUI Pins, (2) 50+ DUI Pins, and (1) Agency of the Year Award.
MADD thanks LT. Tyson for his dedicated work in removing impaired drivers from our roadways. We are proud to select him as the May Officer of the Month!
Newsletter Archives
MADD extends our deepest condolences to the agencies and families who have lost officers and loved ones in the line of duty
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Trooper Alberto Felix and Sergeant Michael Abbate were struck and killed by a drunk driver at 3:23 a.m. off Interstate 15 near D Street in Las Vegas. Sergeant Abbate and... Read More
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Sergeant Michael Abbate and Trooper Alberto Felix were struck and killed by a drunk driver at 3:23 a.m. off Interstate 15 near D Street in Las Vegas. Sergeant Abbate and... Read More
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Sergeant Michael Moran was shot and killed while making a traffic stop near the intersection of South Broadway and San Juan Drive at about 11:25 am. An occupant of the car... Read More
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Detective Mike Lett succumbed to critical injuries he received in a vehicle crash on October 28, 2023. At 11:00 a.m., Detective Lett hydroplaned on Interstate 430 while responding to a... Read More
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K9 Max was shot and killed while tracking an aggravated assault suspect to the Elite City View apartment on Lakemont Drive in College Park at 10:45 a.m. A subject fired at... Read More
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K9 Bane was strangled while attempting to apprehend a robbery suspect on White Oak Drive near East Cherry Creek Drive in Wichita. A man wanted on warrants for robbery and domestic... Read More
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Border Patrol Agent Freddy Ortiz was killed in an ATV crash in Douglas, Arizona, while responding to reports of undocumented immigrants in the area of Chino Road and 5th Street. His... Read More
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Correctional Officer III Jovian Motley died while helping restrain a combative inmate at the J. Dale Wainwright Unit at 2665 Prison Road 1 in Lovelady. The cause of death is... Read More
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Sergeant Jon Jenson died as a result of contracting COVID-19 in the line of duty. Sergeant Jenson was a United States Army veteran and had served with the Fort Worth Police... Read More
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K9 Fury was killed when the patrol car he was riding in was struck by a reckless driver on S River Street near W 7th Street at about 10:40 am. K9... Read More
For a complete listing of Officers lost in the line of duty, please visit: www.odmp.org
Newsletter Archives
Resources
- MADD Roll Call Series | MADD Law Enforcement Impaired Driving Roll Call Video Series
- MADD’s 2021 Court Monitoring Report | Effective Court Monitoring
- MADD/Ipsos Poll | Consumers Support Drunk Driving Prevention Systems in Cars
- DRUG-IMPAIRED DRIVING ENFORCEMENT TRAINING (DIDET) | Get support for your DIDET program!
- Drug Impaired Driving Enforcement Training Opportunities Available | Training in Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement (ARIDE) and as Drug Recognition Experts (DRE)
- Drugged Driving | Dangers of Prescription Drug Consumption and Driving
- MADD’s Marijuana Survey Report | Misconceptions about Marijuana Consumption and Driving
- Legislation | New York .05% BAC Vermont .05 Per Se Law Vermont ignition interlocks Vermont advanced technology
- NHTSA Traffic Safety Facts | Overview of Motor Vehicle Crashes in 2019
- NHTSA | State Alcohol-Impaired Driving Estimates for 2018
- NHTSA Early Estimates of Motor Vehicle Traffic Fatalities | First Quarter of 2020
- NTHSA RFI | Available or late-stage technology under development for impaired driving detection and mitigation
- TOOFS | MADD and Waymo’s Tie-One-On For Safety Holiday Campaign
- 2021 National Lifesavers Conference | Register
- IACP | Traffic Enforcement During the COVID-19 Pandemic Processing DUIs during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Considerations for Law Enforcement Safe, Quick Clearance of Traffic Incidents toolkit Policy Framework for Improved Community-Police Engagement
- Warriors’ Ascent | Providing hope and healing to Veterans and First Responders suffering from Post Traumatic Stress