Around 3:52 PM on September 20, 2023, Officer Donald Perkins with the Westfield Police Department responded to a report of a potentially impaired mother attempting to pick up her daughter at Lincoln School. Upon arrival, Officer Perkins noticed that a woman exhibiting signs of impairment was outside the school building, and he went inside and spoke with the principal. When he later made contact with the woman, he detected the odor of alcohol and observed that her speech was slurred and slow. Officer Perkins informed the woman of her Miranda rights, and began questioning her. The woman informed Officer Perkins that she had driven to the school alone, and that her other child was not in the car with her as she was driving to pick up the child at Lincoln School. Officer Marlow arrived on scene to assist Officer Perkins, and he began to formulate a plan for the child to be released to another responsible adult. The child’s father was contacted, but he was at work. However, the father asked the Westfield Police to release his daughter to their nanny. The nanny, who also resided in Westfield, arrived on scene shortly afterwards and took custody of the woman’s child. The nanny completed the Westfield Police Juvenile Short Term Custody forms and the child was able to leave with her. After the child left the school with the nanny, Sergeant Ostrander arrived to assist and the woman was escorted to the north side parking lot of the school. At this time, Officer Perkins informed the woman that he would be administering field sobriety exercises. He started with the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN) test, and he observed the lack of smooth pursuit, distinct and sustained nystagmus at maximum deviation, and the onset of nystagmus prior to 45 degrees. The next exercise was the One Leg Stand test, and the woman completed this exercise as instructed. The final exercise was the Walk and Turn test, and Officer Perkins observed that the woman did not touch heel-to-toe on each step, turned improperly, failed to count each step aloud, and walked backwards as she returned to the starting position. Based on the principal’s account of events, the odor of alcohol on her person, and the woman’s inability to adequately complete the field sobriety exercises, Officer Perkins placed the woman under arrest for driving under the influence. Her vehicle was impounded by CES Towing for a mandatory 12-hour hold as required by John’s Law. The woman was transported by Officer Perkins to Westfield Police Headquarters. Once at police HQ, she was informed of her Miranda warnings and the Standard Statement for Motor Vehicle Operators was read to her. She agreed to provide breath samples and Officer Gill administered the Alcotest machine. Her Alcotest results indicated a BAC of 0.17%, which was more than double legal limit of 0.08%. After she was processed, she was released to her husband after he signed the Potential Liability Warning form on her behalf. Officer Perkins issued her 1 summons for oerating under the influence (39:4-50). Around 7:05 PM, Sergeant Gregory Penn informed DCP&P that the woman was attempting to pick up her child from school while she was impaired by alcohol. The child would have been in a vehicle with an intoxicated driver had she been able to pick up her child. They informed Sergeant Penn that they would investigate this matter within the next 24 hours. --------------------------------------------------------------- Please LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, and consider supporting this channel (email us for more information). Donations will be used to acquire more public footage related to law enforcement activities. Our content is educational and in compliance with YouTube's Fair Use Policy because we edit several long clips into a concise story. This is similar to other law enforcement channels on YouTube. All videos and case documents were obtained pursuant to the New Jersey Open Public Records Act, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq. (P.L. 2001, c. 404). Defendants are considered innocent until proven guilty. The New Jersey Supreme Court has previously affirmed in Salzano v. North Jersey Media Group, 993 A.2d 778 (2010) that “The fair-report privilege reflects the judgment that the need, in a self-governing society, for free-flowing information about matters of public interest outweighs concerns over the uncompensated injury to a person's reputation.” This video advances a compelling public interest. The summary of events was based on records that are “open to public view through open access to public records” as defined in the Salzano case. In Ramos v. Flowers, 429 N.J. Super. 13, the Appellate Division of the Superior Court has also affirmed the right to film law enforcement interactions.

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