PHOTO BY MEGHAN ERKKINEN

Police officer John Scrivner (center) was awarded for his dedication to protecting the Puyallup Tribal community from impaired drivers at a ceremony Nov. 21. John Scrivner has arrested the most intoxicated drivers of any officer in the Puyallup Tribal Police Department in the past year.

DUI officer awarded

By Meghan Erkkinen

Puyallup Tribal Police officer John Scrivner was awarded for his dedication to protecting the community from alcohol-impaired drivers at a ceremony Nov. 21.

John Scrivner was awarded at the annual candlelight vigil of the Tacoma-Pierce County DUI Victims’ Impact Panel, which is dedicated to serving victims and families that have been impacted by impaired driving. Awards were given to the officers in each of the Pierce County police departments who stopped the most drunk drivers in the last year.

“DUIs impact the community probably the greatest out of any other crimes because it affects everybody,” said Tribal Police Patrol Lieutenant Joe Fitzpatrick, John Scrivner’s supervisor. “Not only could the person driving intoxicated injure himself, but he could injure other people. There have been quite a lot of DUI fatalities in this state.”

Indeed, in 2007, more than 500 people died on Washington state roads. Wash-ington continues to be a strong leader in traffic safety, and last year, it reached a significant milestone of only one fatality per 100 million miles traveled.

“This last year, in 2007, we still lost 568 lives. There’s no way we can still call that victory or success,” said Lowell Porter, director of the Washington Traffic Safety Commission, who spoke at the ceremony. Of those, 40 percent died at the hands of an impaired driver.

“We still have a significant amount of work to do,” Lowell Porter said.

John Scrivner, who has been with the tribal police for about eight years, is conscious of the impact impaired drivers have on the community, and has taken the initiative to undergo extra training to do DUI emphasis.

“He’s very passionate about the community and he’s very passionate about pulling DUIs off the street because he knows the effect of DUIs and the impact on innocent people,” Joe Fitzpatrick said.

In all, more than 25 officers were recognized for their efforts to stop impaired driving. The event also served as a vigil for victims of drunk driving over the years. Dozens of names were read and a bell was rung for every name.

“Too many rings of the bell, but each one of them honors a memory,” said Keith Eldridge of KOMO 4 News, who spoke at the ceremony. “We’re not here to be sad. We’re here to be proud and honor the memories of your loved ones.

“[These officers] may wear thick uniforms, strong armor, but their hearts bleed right along with you,” he added.

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