A Collision Course

According to Susan Isenberg, president of the local chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), Miami-Dade police have ignored the problem for years. She is pushing for creation of a squad to target drunk drivers. "They have a special squad for graffiti. I mean, give me a break!" Isenberg moans. Her seventeen-year-old son Chris Young was killed in Coconut Grove in 1986 after hitching a ride with a drunk who crashed.

But more drivers may be blowing into the Miami-Dade department's eighteen Breathalyzers soon. Zarraga says he is trying "remotivate" officers to end their de facto boycott. And the department is adding a new DUI enforcement squad, consisting of six officers and a supervisor, that is scheduled to hit the roadways September 14.

Boozers beware. "We'll try to avoid force," says Zarraga. "But one way or another we're going to get them out of the car.