Iowa launches website listing blood alcohol tests

A website recently launched by the state will allow the public, as well as law enforcement, to search for breath alcohol test results, certification records on breath test machines and officers' alcohol training status.

Criminalist Jim Bleskacek of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation said he proposed the idea to ensure the breath-testing equipment is working and accurate because those results can determine whether someone will be charged and possibly convicted of operating while intoxicated.

“We're (DCI) responsible for making sure the breath alcohol equipment is maintained properly and certification is updated,” Bleskacek, said. “The equipment is certified once a year, according to Iowa code, but we probably check the calibration and do maintenance about every 10 months.”

Bleskacek said while the intent of the site is to provide complete transparency, it also protects the rights of individuals, who in many cases have only been arrested and not charged and convicted. The names and driver's licenses are not included in the statistics or results.

“You would have to know a date of birth in order to bring up a specific person's results,” Bleskacek said.

The site allows the public to search for breath alcohol tests by county, date range, gender or name of officer, Bleskacek said. The 170 breath test machines in the state automatically download the data for the site via the Internet. Bleskacek monitors the site every day to ensure everything is properly uploading and there are no malfunctions.

The test results are usually posted within 12 to 24 hours of the arrest, Bleskacek said.

Mike Lahammer, Cedar Rapids defense attorney, said he checked out the site and doesn't see any privacy issues.

“It's interesting information and would be a good resource to look at certification (of equipment) and history of an officer,” Lahammer said.

“The statistics of average blood alcohol content levels are interesting but not really valuable for a defense,” Lahammer said. “In a defense, you look at the individual and the circumstances like their weight, height, age, how much they drank over a period of time, what time of day was it.”

Dean Keegan, an Iowa City defense attorney, said a big benefit of the site for him is that it will allow him to gather his own discovery information - such as the blood alcohol content level of a client, - without having to request it from the crime lab or the county attorney's office.

“It's also helpful to know the officer, who does the test, and check out their training,” Keegan said. “Sometimes the reserve officers make an arrest and they may not be trained (in alcohol breath testing).

So far in 2012, 663 people have been tested in Linn County and 794 in Johnson County. The average blood alcohol content level so far in August is 0.14 percent in Linn and 0.123 percent in Johnson. The legal limit is 0.08 percent.

Cedar Rapids police Sgt. Mike Wallerstedt said the department keeps its own internal statistics of the testing but it's nice to have the additional tool. There have been calibration problems with the machine in the past, so it will hopefully eliminate those problems if they are being closely monitored.

Linn County Sheriff Brian Gardner said it will likely save his office time because officers do about 99 percent of the testing in the county since the machine is at the jail and many attorneys ask them for the test results.

Bleskacek said it also saves the crime lab time and money because results would need to be printed and mailed to the county attorneys' offices.

The DCI received a grant through Iowa Access for the creation of the site, Bleskacek said. The state only pays a yearly fee of less than $250 to maintain the site and data. The money saved on mailings will likely go for that expense.

DCI first launched the website in April but it had some problems uploading data so it was taken down, revised and went live about two weeks ago, Bleskacek said.