Recidivism study of New Mexico's convicted DWI offenders 2000-2003.

New Mexico law requires all convicted DWI offenders to be screened by an alcohol and drug abuse screening instrument. This brief article presents the findings of a paper given at the Traffic Records Forum in Buffalo, NY in 2005. The authors report on a study undertaken to demonstrate how convicted Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) offenders are screened and tracked in New Mexico, to describe how data analysis is achieved through linkage of databases for convicted DWI offenders in New Mexico, and to describe recidivism rates of convicted DWI offenders. Results showed that outpatient treatment was recommended by the client tracking program (CTP) for 73% of convicted DWI offenders. Just prior to their DWI arrests, 50.9% of convicted DWI offenders consumed alcohol obtained directly from restaurants, bars, or stores where liquor is sold. Native Americans had the highest re-arrest rates. Younger convicted DWI offenders had the higher re-arrest rates. And 10.2% of convicted DWI offenders with one prior conviction had a re-arrest. The authors conclude that data linkage of various datasets provides more complete information than that available through the individual databases.