$420,000 grant to help bureau buy 60 Intoxilyzers

AUGUSTA — A $420,000 grant from the Bureau of Safety will provide Maine’s law enforcement officers with the most advanced of the many instantaneous testing capabilities available for examining drivers suspected of operating while under the influence of alcohol.

The bureau will purchase 60 Intoxilyzer 5,000 breath control measurement instruments that will be located in law enforcement agencies across the state. A driver suspected of drunken driving will be brought to the closest site for testing. The results will be admissible as evidence in court.

Dick Perkins, director of the Bureau of Safety, said the project is an expansion of the current breath testing program which has been used since the early 1980s. He said the new instruments are easier to use and more of them will be available for law enforcement officers.

Perkins expects the program to be fully operational by late summer. The Maine Criminal Justice Academy is providing training to police officers who will be using the instruments.