Published on Monday, May 16, 2005
in the Bradenton Herald

Trooper admired for dedication to duty

MANATEE - Parked in a grassy median near an Interstate 75 on-ramp, Greg Mitchell sat in a red, unmarked patrol car waiting for his next call.

"I haven't done this in a while," the 29-year-old trooper said Wednesday morning as he listened to aircraft detail pilot Florida Highway Patrol Sgt. Gary Schluter spot speeders while flying above I-75 in a Cessna.

Mitchell is used to the night shift. For more than two years, he patrolled Cortez Road and U.S. 41 nightly for drunk drivers. During that stint, he made a total of 232 DUI arrests - 122 last year, and 110 in 2003.

His efforts haven't gone unnoticed. In November, Mitchell was named Trooper of the Month after making 25 DUI arrests. Last month, Mitchell was one of 13 troopers statewide to be commended and rewarded for his efforts by the Mothers Against Drunk Driving organization and the Florida Highway Patrol in Tallahassee.

Combined, the 13 officers made 1,647 DUI arrests last year, FHP Lt. Doug Dodson said. There were 10,643 DUI-related deaths in 2004, according to statistics from the state highway patrol.

The number of arrests made by Mitchell has also won him an officer of the year nomination from the Hundred Club, but Mitchell doesn't think about his accolades too much.

Instead, as one of eight law enforcement officers working the DUI beat, he said his success was a group effort.

"One in every five cars on a midnight shift is a DUI driver," he said. "Without their (other troopers') help, there's no way in the world we'd be able to catch everybody."

As he waited Wednesday, Mitchell got a call from the sergeant about a red Mirage traveling 84 mph along the 70-mph stretch. He turned up the country music station, pulled onto the interstate, flashed his lights and stopped the driver a short distance away.

The aircraft detail was expected to extend into the afternoon, leaving time for Mitchell to return to his wife and 2-year-old daughter in the evening - time the DUI beat and the court hearings chipped away.

"For right now, I'm going to pass it on to somebody else that wants to do it," he said. "You end up in driver's license hearings, depositions, motion hearings, trials. You do that all the time and it does take away from your days off, your family life. It's very time consuming. It doesn't take long to arrest a drunk and book him in jail, but it does take a long time to get him through process."

Dodson said it's that sacrifice that led Mitchell to his recent success.

"It takes a special person to go out and make arrests like this," he said. "You're held to a higher standard since you're under the gun to make valid cases."

Originally from Missouri, Mitchell moved to Florida in 1984. While he always wanted to be a law enforcement officer, he studied computer drafting and design in college and began a career in retail. Then he decided to go back to his childhood dream and went to the academy.

Mitchell became a trooper in 1998 and was assigned to DUI enforcement a little more than two years ago after he was trained by FHP Cpl. David Brunner, who has also won recognition for DUI enforcement.

Mitchell kept a regular haunt along Cortez Road and U.S. Highway 41, stopping motorists for broken taillights or headlights, speeding or expired tags.

"That's where all your bars are at," he said. "That's where all your heaviest traffic is at in this county."

He's heard all of the stories and excuses from motorists. And there are still some that get to him.

"You get to the point where you almost just go through the motions but the hardest ones, I guess, are the people you know made that one mistake," he said. "You don't feel sorry for the ones that constantly do it and have multiple records and suspensions for DUI and you know they're just going to do it over and over and over again. But you get those few people who actually made a mistake - made the wrong decision and those are kind of hard."

To Mitchell, understanding the offender is important.

"I go up to the jail and I'll talk to them at whatever hour if they want to get something off their chest," he said. "Most of these people have personal problems that they're just not willing to talk about or they're not willing to discuss to anybody else and they'll talk to a total stranger even if the stranger just arrested them."

One didn't. Four years ago, Mitchell arrested a woman in her early 30s after she rear-ended a vehicle. When the investigation concluded she had been driving under the influence with her blood-alcohol level over the legal limit, Mitchell had to arrest her. It was her first offense. She threatened suicide. He didn't take her seriously.

"I have had people say that before. Then, I got the call from the state attorney's office a month later," he said. "Everybody makes mistakes. You just hope the mistake is not going to cost you or somebody else their life. There are these people who think their life is over after they make that mistake. It's not worth it. There's no reason. You just learn from your mistake."

Though he still thinks about it at times, Mitchell moved on and continues to try to help the different people he meets on a daily basis.

"It's part of my job - to play counselor, to try to help these people," Mitchell said. "I don't want these people to make the same mistake twice. I don't want to have to arrest them. I don't want to run into them again. I want them to understand they made a big mistake that could cost somebody else their lives. DUI is never a victimless crime."