Proximity to the southern border and DUI arrests in California

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A new study from the Prevention Research Center of the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation of DUI arrests in California shows that arrests increase as distance to the southern border decrease, and that this may be due to greater availability of alcohol in the border area.

The article examines trends and population-level correlates of drinking driving arrests from 2005 to 2017 in California. Relying on arrest data from the California Department of Justice, and demographic and community data form the U.S. Census, measures of alcohol outlet density, and distance to the U.S./Mexico border, the authors found that:

Lead author, Raul Caetano notes that: "These analyses were based on 2.3 million arrest records for 18 years, providing very stable results. Although DUI arrest rates increased as distance to the border decreased, in communities with larger percentages of Hispanics, DUI rates increased as distance to the border increased. This shows that effect of the increased alcohol and drug availability at the border are complex and influenced by community factors".

Provided by Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation