PANEL URGES PLUG FOR DUI LOOPHOLE.

Byline: Patrick McGreevy Daily News Staff Writer

Los Angeles City Council members voiced alarm Monday that thousands of suspected drunken drivers might not be correctly identified by police, potentially allowing repeat offenders to escape punishment and continue driving.

The council's Public Safety Committee recommended Monday that the Los Angeles Police Department immediately begin taking photographs and full fingerprints from everyone arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol.

``It's just not acceptable to me that we are turning repeat drunk drivers back onto the street to continue to wreak havoc on the road,'' said Councilwoman Laura Chick, the committee's chairwoman.

The LAPD arrested 21,000 people for drunken driving last year, but officials are concerned that many suspects are escaping punishment by giving false identification.

Because full fingerprints and a photograph are not taken and processed for a positive identification, some drunken drivers who give false names are able to escape detection and punishment, said Greig Smith, a reserve police officer and chief deputy for Councilman Hal Bernson.

``They can give you a phony name and walk out the door,'' Smith said. ``There are thousands a year that are going through (booking) without IDs.''

For the past 16 years, since the state stopped keeping the data, the LAPD has only taken a thumbprint from drunken drivers, which is attached to their arrest report.

LAPD commanding Officer Bill Russell said some positive identifications are made based on a thumbprint, but that is hampered if the city does not have the suspect's thumbprint on file for comparison.

Russell said he supports restoring the full identification process, but said the department would need permission to hire three additional fingerprint specialists to handle the extra workload of print comparisons for positive identification.

The council panel referred that proposal to City Administrative Officer Keith Comrie to determine whether there are funds for the new positions.

Smith said one LAPD division did a check and found dozens of offenders who gave false identification.

``We may be processing a lot of people back on the street and not knowing they have prior arrests and shouldn't be driving any more,'' Smith said.

Chick said it is critical that the city plug the loophole.

``What the public needs to be able to count on is when people are arrested they need to be brought to justice,'' she said. ``This is a good example of that not happening because there are some problems.

``We can guess there are a considerable number not showing up in trial. We don't want drunk drivers, especially repeat drunk drivers. They cause death and maiming and property destruction.''

Police union director Dennis Zine, a former Valley traffic sergeant, agreed that there is a serious problem.

``I wonder how many people died at the hands of drunk drivers who should be in custody,'' Zine told the committee.