DWI Task Force

The McKinley County DWI Task Force is made up of the McKinley County Sheriff's Office, Gallup Police Department, New Mexico State Police, Navajo Nation Police, Zuni Police and Ramah Navajo Police. The Task Force is funded by the New Mexico Department of Transportation under a grant aimed at reducing the amount of alcohol related crashes and fatalities in McKinley County. The philosophy behind this grant is that all agencies work together to combat DWI issues thereby deleting the "boundaries" of jurisdictional issues and making no safe haven to hide from prosecution.     

Specialized Training

Each of our deputies that participate in the Task Force have received specialized training in the area of DWI enforcement to ensure they can provide the best service to the community and present the best case before the courts to increase conviction rates. 

Each is certified in:

• Standardized Field Sobriety Tests (SFST)
• ARIDE (Advanced Roadside Impairment Detection and Enforcement)
• Alcohol sensing and measuring devices
• STEP (Selective Traffic Enforcement Program)

Staff

Lieutenant Tammy Houghtaling- manages the Task Force Grant, schedules DWI checkpoints and coordinates with agencies for joint task force efforts

Deputy Terence Willie- is assigned as a full-time DWI enforcement deputy to the task force