In a classroom at Maui police headquarters, officers in training learn to spot a drunk driver...

"They look for cues in a person's balance, in their eyes," said Lt. Bobby Hill.

Hill oversees Maui's DUI Task Force. Last year the unit rang up big numbers. Arrests reached a ten-year high for people caught driving under the influence. Cops made 1,011 arrests. Many of them were repeat offenders.
Maui police suspect a high number of automobile fatalities involved an impaired driver.

"Unfortunately, people aren't taking it seriously," Hill said. "They may not realize the consequences of it."

That troubles Paula Kahahane. It's understandable. On Sept. 7, 1992, a drunk driver killed her son on Haleakala Highway.

"It only takes one time for them to change our lives," she said. "My son was only eighteen."

For years, Kahahane has told her story to Maui DUI offenders. Last year she was shocked by the size of her audience.

"I counted at least thirty people per class," she said.

Maui isn't the only island fighting a DUI epidemic. In 2007 Oahu had its highest total in eight years. Police said besides alcohol more people were caught driving under the influence of prescription drugs, including medical marijuana.
And on Maui, more DUI arrests were made during daylight hours.

"You will be arrested," Hill said.

Maui police attribute the increase in arrests to two things: better enforcement and more people breaking the law.
This year Maui cops will set up sobriety checkpoints once a week. They're reminding drivers that at $1,000.00 for the first offense, Maui county has the highest DUI bail in the state.

Soon another batch of recruits will be patroling the streets prepared to put into practice what they've learned in the classroom.