A Mountain, Wisconsin, man is in jail in Washington County and accused of a 9th OWI.
According to online court records, 63-year old Daniel Kalk is charged with OWI and bail jumping after police in West Bend arrested him last Thursday night.
Capt. Tim Dehring said Kalk was driving erratically and failed field sobriety tests when an officer pulled him over.
"He was out on bail from Manitowoc County from a previous OWI arrest," Dehring said.
"To see this gentleman, if we will, continue to flaunt the law and put people in danger, it's frustrating," he added.
In Washington County, the non-profit Elevate provides assessments to anyone convicted of OWI.
In 2017, the organization performed 561 such assessments. Roughly 46% of the people assessed were deemed to be repeat offenders.
"Our job is to determine if this was a one-time mistake they made," said Mary Simon, Elevate's Executive Director, "or does this person have an ongoing problem with alcohol or other drugs?"
Simon said first-time offenders deemed to be at lower risk of reoffending are assigned to a 22-hour class.
Other offenders are steered towards treatment options.
Simon said Elevate also oversees an OWI Treatment Alternatives & Diversion (TAD) program that focused on 118 people from 2015 to 2017.
Offenders in the TAD program are required to undergo regular drug testing, and have regular meetings with treatment providers and Elevate case managers.
"We have fewer people serving time in jail, fewer people taking up time in court, and more people in recovery," Simon said.
She said almost 80 percent of TAD participants from 2015-17 successfully completed the program.
