Lights, Camera, You Are Under Arrest For DUI In Camera-Ready East Point, Georgia

Facing traffic unit body cams and a DUI arrest in East Point, Georgia? Better call DUI lawyer George C. Creal

Since the mid-2000s, Georgia has been pushing to encourage its burgeoning film industry to grow. Trying to draw film crews and the big bucks, they bring in expenses, services, and jobs to bolster the local economies. The picturesque suburb of East Point in southeast Atalanta is one of many towns trying to encourage film productions, and they have had some success, welcoming crews as famous as that of Stranger Things in 2015 and 2016 to the town’s library and First Baptist Church.

While the Atlanta suburb has been carefully preparing for (and encouraging) film crews to work in East Point, you are far more likely to face the body cameras of the police’s traffic unit than any fancy big-screen cameras. The traffic unit and police department are always trying to make the city safer and more camera-friendly, which can mean cracking down hard on crime – including drunk driving.

Unfortunately, the consequences of being arrested for drunk driving have a lot more staying power than the sandwich orders of a film crew and tend to be far more dramatic and life-changing than showing up as an extra in a shot. Luckily, there are DUI defense lawyers fighting as hard for the rights of arrested citizens as the towns are fighting over who gets the right to welcome the film crews.

The Cameras You Are Most Likely To Encounter In East Point

In 2008, Georgia passed some extremely generous laws to reward and incentivize film productions to shoot in the State. The Atlanta area has seen quite an uptick in cameras since then, as Fulton County, in particular, has been building up a score of “camera-ready communities” like East Point.

However, moving picture lenses are far from the only cameras that have hit the streets of East Point since then. In 2018, the city moved to require body cameras on its police officers. This development, however widely favored by the community, represents a far greater number of cameras on the streets of the Atlanta suburb. Exponentially more footage has since been captured by these devices than any number of camera crews visiting to work on pictures, big or small.

This camera footage can sometimes make the difference between a conviction and a dismissal of charges for serious crimes like Driving Under the Influence. A difference that might mean a great deal more in the lives of East Point residents than any film appearance.

Why Is Body Camera Evidence So Important In East Point DUI Cases?

Driving Under the Influence charges (for both alcohol and drugs) are far from the only ones in which body camera footage can make a substantial difference. But they are one of the most common and one of the ones in which film evidence can be the most impactful for a number of reasons – as any DUI defense attorney can tell you.

1. First, the presence of body cameras can, at least in theory, keep the police from needlessly or wantonly escalating the DUI or other traffic stop into a violent or even deadly encounter. In communities like East Point, that can make a life-saving difference.
2. Second, body camera footage can be used to confirm what happened during the traffic stop before and leading up to a DUI arrest. This is especially important for DUIs in which the officer’s questions and “impression” of the situation play such a significant role in the outcome or even their right to arrest you. A defense attorney may be able to review the footage and call the entire charge into question.
3. Third, Georgia officers still sometimes use field sobriety tests to help determine if you are drunk. While you have a right to refuse them, the officer may insist or convince you it is an easy way to “prove” you are sober…but even sober people can fail them. Camera footage may help prove what you did right, giving an attorney grounds to refute an officer’s inferences or conclusions.

In the end, dash camera or body camera footage could thus be the difference between a conviction and being released. Or, at the very least, being able to negotiate for reduced charges, alternative sentencing, or any one of the many ways a strong DUI defense lawyer can limit the impact of an arrest on your life.

Caught On Camera In East Point? It Might Be Time To Call A DUI Defense Attorney

George C. Creal is an Atlanta defense lawyer who represents anyone arrested on DUI charges in East Point and throughout the greater Atlanta Metro Area.

While we can very much hope that the only cameras that are ever pointed at you in East Point belong to a movie or television studio, more likely than not, they will be strapped to a police officer instead. If that happens to be the case for you during a DUI stop or any other kind of arrest, you will need a good defense lawyer.

In the greater Atlanta area, including East Point, you can call on George C. Creal to defend your rights and freedom. The sooner you call (770) 961-5511, the less the police will be able to do against you, and the more likely he will be to preserve that body camera footage and analyze it to look for ways to get your charges dismissed or reduced.