Mission Statement
To provide advanced training and on-site technical and equipment support to law enforcement officers and agencies conducting low-staffing and multi-agency sobriety checkpoints. To utilize the Breath Alcohol Testing (B.A.T.) Mobile for training, and upon request, during sobriety checkpoint enforcement activities and as a mobile training platform and public relations tool used to raise community awareness of the crime of drunken/drugged driving. To develop a legal, safe, efficient, and Constitutional sobriety checkpoint program that will be used regularly by Arkansas law enforcement agencies as part of an ongoing program to deter and apprehend drunken/drugged drivers and to reduce alcohol and drug-related traffic crashes and fatalities on roadways throughout the State of Arkansas.
The B.A.T. Mobile is a highly specialized vehicle used for conducting sobriety checkpoints throughout the state. The B.A.T. Mobile program is based at the Black River Technical College’s Law Enforcement Training Academy in Pocahontas, Arkansas, and is available for use by agencies throughout the State of Arkansas free of charge. Funding for the B.A.T. Mobile Program is provided through a grant from the Arkansas State Police Highway Safety Office (ASHO) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The grant covers all of the costs for the use of the B.A.T. Mobile Program including maintenance, fuel, lodging, salary, and training.
The B.A.T. Mobile is a 38- foot long, 13.5-foot tall Freightliner truck custom built by MBF Industries in Sanford, Florida. It is equipped with 9 cameras which provide a 360-degree recorded coverage of sobriety checkpoint activities, five on the exterior, and four in the interior. One of the exterior cameras is attached to the 30-foot LED light tower which offers a bird’s eye view of the checkpoint. Three interior cameras record officers performing Standardized Field Sobriety Tests (SFSTs) and Drug Recognition Evaluations (DREs). The final interior camera system is a Hawkeye HGN camera system that magnifies and records eye movements during the administration of the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN) portion of the SFST. All interior cameras are equipped with audio recording.
The B.A.T. Mobile is also equipped with hydraulic leveling jacks to level the surface in order for a subject to perform the two psychophysical tests of the SFSTs in a neutral environment. There is also an exam room and equipment onboard to complete drug recognition evaluations.
The B.A.T. Mobile is equipped with a Verizon 5G wireless router, Dish Network, and a satellite phone. The rear of the B.A.T. Mobile has a 36″x 60″ LED message board for traffic advisories, public service messages, and promotional pictures. The B.A.T. Mobile is also equipped with the following equipment for checkpoints: traffic cones, warning signs, safety flares, portable speed bumps, and portable stop signs.
The B.A.T. Mobile Program continues to be an asset to the State of Arkansas in impaired driving enforcement and deterrence. There is no way to know exactly how many lives have been saved as a result of the B.A.T. Mobile Program since it began in 2009, but the people of Arkansas can know that the B.A.T. Mobile Program remains committed to providing support to law enforcement agencies throughout the State of Arkansas in order to protect the public from impaired drivers.
To learn more about the B.A.T. Mobile or schedule it, contact Instructor Ashley Boles at (870) 248-4197 or ashley.boles@blackrivertech.edu.