D.C. punishes cops who arrested drunk drivers

Andrew Zabavsky became a D.C. cop a decade ago. He was a solid candidate: grew up in Montgomery County, graduated from the University of Maryland, wanted to police the city he knew. He spent the first five years on patrol in Adams Morgan and Dupont Circle. He liked the midnight shift, coming on at 10 p.m. and riding the capital’s dark streets. “We had all the clubs,” he tells me. “Night after night, we saw people weaving through the streets. Not many officers were trained in alcohol enforcement.”

So Zabavsky and his partner, Jose Rodriguez, decided to focus on drunk drivers. They busted hundreds, registered high conviction counts, made the streets safer, probably saved a few lives along the way.