KALAMAZOO, MI - A Kalamazoo judge admitted he was skeptical in 2011 when ignition interlock devices became part of the county's Sobriety Court Program.
District Judge Vincent C. Westra said he feared the devices would open the door to the program's participants focusing on getting their driving privileges back instead of addressing their sobriety.
On Thursday, Westra told several people at the district court on East Crosstown Parkway his concerns ended up being unfounded.
"I was wrong," Westra said. "The availability of the interlock has allowed (participants) to get to their meetings, to get to their treatment ... to have the availability of better employment.
"It's improved their lives, but it's also given them hope."
The ignition interlock devices attach to a vehicle's ignition system and measure a driver's blood-alcohol level. If it's at a certain level, the system prevents the vehicle from starting.
Currently, Kalamazoo County's district court is among five in the state that implemented ignition interlock systems as part of their Sobriety Court program, beginning in 2011. The devices also are in use in Grand Traverse, Kent, Marquette and Oakland counties.
Westra's remarks Thursday in Kalamazoo came on the heels of a press conference in Lansing to highlight the success of the ignition interlock systems in reducing recidivism rates among convicted drunk drivers.
The Michigan Supreme Court on Thursday released a report based on four years worth of figures from 2011 to 2014. A press conference that was held at the Hall of Justice in Lansing was shown via video in Kalamazoo Thursday before Westra, Kalamazoo County Prosecutor Jeff Getting and a Sobriety Court graduate, William, spoke about Kalamazoo's Sobriety Court.
The report shows that participants in the state's five sobriety courts who used the interlock devices had a recidivism rate of just 1 percent within one year and two years of their conviction for operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, and 2.8 percent within three years of their conviction.
Those numbers stand in contrast to sobriety court programs where ignition interlock devices are not used having a recidivism rate of 2.6 percent within the first year of their OWI conviction, 4.2 percent within two years and 5 percent within three years.
The devices also lead to better graduation rates among participants in the state's sobriety courts, Eaton County District Judge Harvey Hoffman said during the press conference in Lansing. Hoffman said that 88 percent of participants in sobriety court who used the ignition interlock devices graduated between 2011 and 2014, compared to a 66 percent graduation rate among sobriety court participants where the ignition interlock systems have not been instituted.
"We are saving lives, we are saving money and there are numerous people statewide benefiting from these programs," Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert P. Young Jr. said Thursday in Lansing.
Westra said the Sobriety Court program in Kalamazoo County has seen the same success with ignition interlock devices. He said the sobriety court programs, as a whole, are successful because they combine "accountability with treatment," and the use of the ignition interlock devices has heightened that combination.
Currently, there are 45 counties in the state that have their own Sobriety Court program or are part of a regional Sobriety Court.
"Treatment alone doesn't work," Westra said. "Jail alone doesn't work. The answer is a program that combines treatment and accountability. That's what the sobriety court is."
William, who asked that his last name not be used for this report, said he took part in Kalamazoo's Sobriety Court following his third arrest for OWI. He said the program helped him address the "deep roots" of his alcoholism and prompted him to embrace his recovery.
William said he's been sober now for 16 months and regularly attends Alcoholics Anonymous meetings as part of his ongoing recovery.
"If there wasn't a sobriety court I'd be in jail right now, plain and simple," he said. "That's something I cherish every day. ... I love waking up in the morning and not having that horrible feeling."
Getting said his office prosecuted 738 OWI cases in 2014, 113 of which were for felony drunken-driving offenses.
Getting praised the county's Sobriety Court Thursday and said that the use of the ignition interlock devices serves as an incentive for participants who are able to regain their driving privileges while treating their dependence on alcohol.
"It allows them a second chance in our community, a real second chance," Getting said. "It gives them a real opportunity to succeed ... There is an accountability portion of this that I don't thing can be overstated.
"Not only has it improved recidivism, not only does it hold people accountable, I think, most importantly, it ensures public safety."
Rex Hall Jr. is a public safety reporter for the Kalamazoo Gazette. You can reach him at rhall2@mlive.com. Follow him on Twitter.