Newport Beach Officer Praised for Arresting 306 DUI Drivers

A Newport Beach police officer dedicated to keeping innocent people safe on the streets was recently honored by Mothers Against Drunk Driving for taking the keys away from more than 300 drunk drivers. 

Officer William Hume, 24, a South Orange County native, was honored by MADD with a Century Award --along with other area police officers for making a dent in drunk driving-- at a ceremony held earlier this month at the Richard Nixon Library in Yorba Linda. Hume received the accolade for arresting 306 DUI drivers in 2011 in Newport Beach. He says his main motivator was seeing the lives of innocent people be destroyed by drunk drivers.

"I went to a car crash where an innocent guy was hit by a drunk driver while crossing the street," Hume said. "He's now paralyzed. After seeing that it motivated me to go out and arrest the drunk drivers to help keep people safe."

Hume was assigned to the department's DUI Enforcement Team in February 2011 and initially set a goal of 100 DUI drivers. When he is on patrol, Hume says he looks for driving patterns to tip him off to a possible drunk driver.

"People weaving within lanes, people making wide turns. We will pick a road and I will start monitoring every car that is on the road," Hume explained. "By the end of the first year I noticed a significant drop in the number of traffic collissions that happened in Newport Beach. So it's definitely helping."

Hume credits his co-workers and family for helping him reach his goal. He was recently promoted to a motorcycle officer and begins his new duties next week.