For those familiar with DUI in LA, it's common knowledge that the California Highway Patrol (CHP) is the primary enforcer of DUI laws across Los Angeles County, making the most DUI arrests.

There are awards given to CHP officers who make the most arrests in a given year. They are very connected with entities like Mothers Against Drunk Driving and other entities, and the more DUI arrests they get, the more prestige they get in their unit. They might even get more money.

It's important to note that CHP officers are not just out on the highways to get people for DUIs. They are highly trained to operate the machines used to test for DUIs, making them formidable opponents in a DUI case.

CHP officers are extensively trained to prevent criminal defense attorneys and DUI attorneys from dismissing a case. They meticulously gather evidence to ensure a DUI defendant's conviction.

They start right from the beginning of a DUI stop. They're going to say how you were driving. In their police report, they're going to talk about what your breath smelled like – whether you had a strong smell of alcohol or not. Whether your eyes were bloodshot or watery.

When you get out of a car, they always say you have an unsteady gait, meaning you're not steady on your feet. If they arrest you and send you into court for DUI, you can bet they're going to say you failed the field sobriety test. They're going to try every trick in the book to get you for a DUI.

During a DUI stop, CHP officers will inquire about your alcohol consumption, your current and previous locations, and other details. Their primary objective on the road is to apprehend DUI offenders.

Driving on Suspended License and Traffic-Related Offenses

Yes, they catch people for other offenses, such as driving on a suspended license or traffic-related offenses – but again, the CHP sees one of their main jobs as catching DUI drivers. The reality is, they're not supposed to be pulling people over for no reason. They must have some sort of probable cause that criminal activity is afoot to pull someone over for a DUI or any other offense.

But, when it's late at night – it's the weekend, for example – and you're out on the road, the CHP is out there, and they're assuming that you've been drinking and driving and they're going to come up with any reason – swerving, speeding, not driving with your lights on – there's a whole host of things that they put in the police report to justify the pullover.

Then, of course, in the end, if your blood alcohol level is a .08 or greater, it just strengthens your case that you did something illegal because you were a DUI, so you must have done something illegal. That's the angle or the approach that these guys take; whether or not it makes sense or not, it doesn't matter.

I have many clients who receive the police report. They read it once they hire me, and we come back and sit down to discuss it. They say what's in this police report is not valid. This is not exactly what happened. This is not exactly how I did on these field sobriety tests. This is not what I was doing. They're not justified in pulling me over.

The bottom line, though, is that it becomes a matter of the CHP's word against your word. If they've got a blood-alcohol level of .08 or greater, then that strengthens the prosecution's case, and it makes the CHP's work seem more reliable because your blood alcohol level is high.

You must have done some of the things that they said. So, really, what you need to do when you're thinking about law enforcement officers and what they did is, we as a defense team working together on the case, we're going to have to figure out what evidence could be available to support some of the things that you're saying?

And some things have become available now, such as dash cams on many CHP vehicles. Many police officers, not all of them, are wearing body cams – that's another thing that can be available.

Fortunately, there are now more opportunities for defense. Dash cams on many CHP vehicles and the prevalence of cell phones mean that video evidence can potentially contradict the officers' reports.

Los Angeles Police Department

The Los Angeles Police Department arrests people for DUIs all the time. In my experience, and I've done hundreds of cases over the last twenty-five years – in my experience, the LAPD is not as sophisticated as far as adequately doing the tests and knowing how to handle a DUI stop, a DUI arrest and be able to put all the pieces of the puzzle together so that when I come in afterward looking to try to get the case dismissed, it's much easier to have an angle in my experience when it comes to LAPD police reports than it does with a CHP officer police report.

So, those are the two main entities – the CHP and the Los Angeles Police Department, that arrest people for DUIs in Los Angeles County. It is possible to get arrested by another law enforcement agency, but it seems very unlikely. So, those are who you will deal with when it comes to a DUI arrest in LA. That's the LAPD and the CHP.

You'll want to consult an attorney familiar with handling cases involving these agencies, who can effectively defend DUI cases and understand the policies and practices of the CHP and LAPD, as well as strategies for mitigating the damage related to your DUI in Los Angeles.