MADD credits diligent cops, asks Apple, Google to dump DUI apps

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Mothers Against Drunk Driving Michigan and Macomb County (Mich.) Prosecutor Eric Smith will honor 50 police officers next month who in 2010 went beyond the call of duty to do an exemplary job of apprehending drunken drivers or providing outreach to prevent drunken driving.

Separately, the national MADD organization said on its Web site that it sent letters over the weekend to executive leadership at Apple and Google asking that they review and possibly dump DUI checkpoint apps being offered in their stores because they could be used by drinkers who want to use them as a tool to evade arrest.

MADD wants Apple and Google to stop selling apps that could help drunken drivers avoid sobriety checkpoints.

Fifty police departments from the Metropolitan Detroit area will send officers they have nominated themselves to receive appreciation at the ceremony hosted by Troy-based MADD on June 9 at the Holiday Inn Hotel and Conference Center Livonia.

Agencies to be honored include the sheriff’s departments in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties in suburban Detroit and all southeast Michigan State Police posts.

Others who will be honored are Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy; Michael Prince, director, Office of Highway Safety Planning; and Ken Stecker, traffic safety resource coordinator, Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan.

About 11,000 Americans die because of drunken drivers every year. Another 500,000 people are injured annually in alcohol-related car crashes. In 2010, 299 people died in Michigan in alcohol-related accidents.

For information about other MADD activities, call (248) 528-1745.

You can reach TorqueNews.com's Hawke Fracassa at hawkefracassa@aol.com.

Image source: MADD