Michigan State Police Director Col. Joe Gasper testified before a state Senate committee today that 52 drunk driving cases are affected by falsified maintenance or a lack of routine maintenance on Datamaster breathalyzers. Criminal charges could be issued.
State Police also say this affects 8 different departments including Beverly Hills, Pittsfield Township and Tecumseh in our area. The machines are required to be calibrated every 120 days.
State Police say they were paying a company called Intoximeters $1.2 million a year for calibrations and maintenance on 203 Datamaster machines statewide. Two technicians with the company have been identified committing outright fraud.
State Police have taken over this work, have re-calibrated 37 machines and put them back in service.
The 52 cases that led to drunk driving charges could be tossed out in court.
Here’s the breakdown of the State Police findings:
| Instrument Location | Period of Time in Question | Number of Breath Tests | Possible Criminal Act |
| Alpena County Sheriff’s Department | 11/14/19 - 1/9/20 | 8 | Yes |
| Beverly Hills Police Department | 1/22/19- 6/21/19 | 9 | Yes |
| Detroit Detention Center | 10/10/19 - 10/13/19 | 6 | No |
| Montcalm Conuty Sheriff's Department | 8/23/19 - 8/26/19 | 1 | No |
| Niles Law Enforcement Center | 1/15/19 - 2/18/19 | 7 | No |
| Pittsfield Township Police Department | 12/20/18 - 8/7/19 | 5 | Yes |
| Tecumseh Police Department | 2/15/19 - 6/28/19 | 12 | Yes |
| Van Buren County Sheriff's Department | 11/21/19 - 12/9/19 | 4 | No |
