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Police arrest 67 at checkpoints
The Mobile Press-Register ^ | 5/31/06 | Nadia M. Taylor

Posted on 05/31/2006 12:54:05 PM PDT by AzaleaCity5691

Police arrest 67 at checkpoints Wednesday, May 31, 2006 By NADIA M. TAYLOR Staff Reporter Officers issued more than 1,800 tickets and arrested 67 people over the Memorial Day weekend at several driver's license checkpoints throughout the city, police said.

Most of the 1,834 tickets issued were for not having a driver's license or proof of insurance, according to interim Mobile police Chief Lester Hargrove.

Fifty-four people were arrested on outstanding misdemeanor warrants, and 13 people were arrested on felony warrants, Hargrove said. Most charges stemmed from traffic violations or drug offenses, police said.

One man, Carl Mitchell Washington, 22, was driving with his 2-year-old son when police stopped him at a checkpoint and found about 30 pills, which were believed to be Ecstasy, and $2,775 in cash, Hargrove said.

Washington was charged Sunday with possession of a controlled substance and endangering the welfare of a child and was released on a $3,500 bond, according to the Mobile County Metro Jail log.

Under Alabama law, possession of a controlled substance is a Class C felony, punishable by up to 10 years in jail. Endangering the welfare of a child is a Class A misdemeanor, which can carry a sentence of up to one year in jail, according to state law.

In addition to the weekend arrests, police seized two handguns and towed 53 vehicles as a result of the checkpoints, Hargrove said.

The topic of roadblocks garnered substantial media attention last month after two men were shot to death at a McDonald's drive-through in northeast Mobile. After the April 5 killings, city officials called for more frequent random checkpoints to look for and seize illegal weapons.

The latest round of checkpoints -- which ran Friday through Monday -- was the third weekend since April 28 that police have set up roadblocks in Mobile. Police issued a total of 1,362 citations during the first two weekends, which took place April 28 and 29 and May 5 and 6.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Government; US: Alabama
KEYWORDS: 4thamendment; banglist; billofrights; constitutionlist; damngoodidea; donutwatch; govwatch; jackbootedthugs; jbt; jbts; libertarians; notagoodidea; papersnow; policestate; roadblocks; statist; whatnoguns
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To: RightWhale
It is public property. The police are the representative of the public. The guy in the car is not.

Huh? Sorry, but I did not follow what you were attempting to say. My car is not public property.

81 posted on 05/31/2006 3:28:49 PM PDT by RadioAstronomer (Senior member of Darwin Central)
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To: RadioAstronomer

Most people have no idea what public property is. The meaning of the word public is commonly unknown. As you begin to dig into this problem you will begin to understand what the argument over the new Federal Constitution of 1787 was about and how it was a revolution from the original Confederacy. You may also come to see how less than 1% of Alaska is in private ownership and the 'public' is not the public and oil from ANWR is not allowed to be developed. Fourier transforms are easier.


82 posted on 05/31/2006 3:35:53 PM PDT by RightWhale (Off touch and out of base)
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To: AzaleaCity5691
Yeah....you said it.

So, if I'm on the same level as a judge, lawyer, and the politicians across this nation; unless a federal LEO catches me committing a federal misdemeanor and let's say being in this country illegally, as the example, then local and state LEO's do not have to enforce a federal law???

OK, so that means all other situations are the same when say like being on federal property loitering, panhandling, trespassing (for whatever reason time of day, etc.), theft of federal property, etc., then the same situation has to apply to local and state LEO's looking the other way??? Right?????

Seems to me this is exactly what I'm hearing all across the nation from the proponents of aiding and abetting the lawbreakers. So, technically we should be protected under equal protection of the law just as the illegals when it comes to federal misdemeanors?

83 posted on 05/31/2006 3:36:49 PM PDT by RSmithOpt (Liberalism: Highway to Hell)
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To: RightWhale

I certainly am not up on all (or even most) of the laws of property ownership (I will freely admit that), however, how does this apply to searching your automobile at a random checkpoint?


84 posted on 05/31/2006 3:40:07 PM PDT by RadioAstronomer (Senior member of Darwin Central)
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To: RiVer19

Well, the thing is, in order to reach our home on the bay, we have to take this little road called Dauphin Island Parkway. When my daughter got her license earlier this year, I gave her a long and detailed lecture on why as soon as she feels she's ready to drive on I-10, I want her getting on I-10 because I don't want her driving D.I.P north of the Interstate. My son well, I'm alright with him driving it as long as he stays on the road till it gets to Airport

But at any rate, I can understand why they'd be on Grelot, there are those apartment complexes and then as you go down University towards 90, especially near Cottage Hill, there's that one neighborhood across from the shopping center which well, I've told my daughter not to go in that neighborhood as well (actually, I've compiled a list of where I'm allowing her to drive to, cause I know better than her what areas she should be traversing)


85 posted on 05/31/2006 3:44:30 PM PDT by AzaleaCity5691 (The enemy used to lie in the heart of Gadsden, now Riley outpolls him by 50 points)
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To: RSmithOpt

Seems like an obvious response to all the hoopla about illegals. It is spooky, though. Here, the officials go wild during and after hurricanes with roadblocks, commandeering communications etc. Now, this year they want us to stay home for 24 hours or something so they can do their thing. I travelled in Franco's spain. It's the same deal. but kleep whining about illegals and demanding they be deported.


86 posted on 05/31/2006 3:47:24 PM PDT by ClaireSolt (.)
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To: AzaleaCity5691
Whats a good idea?? Check points?? What are you, some kind of Nazi or Ruskie??? Ze Papers Please!!

Unbelievable.... ...go back to where ever it was you came from. You don't belong here....

87 posted on 05/31/2006 3:53:14 PM PDT by sit-rep (http://trulineint.com/latestposts.asp)
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To: Larry Lucido

You talkin from experience Mr.??


88 posted on 05/31/2006 3:55:05 PM PDT by sit-rep (http://trulineint.com/latestposts.asp)
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To: HIDEK6

Oh come on, run with it! There should be periodic sweeps of the homes in the city and suburbs to find those that are doing dastardly stuff. I'll bet they would get a few illegal weapons and some irresponsible parents giving a glass of wine with dinner to their 17 year old.

We can never be too protected from those who would break the laws of the land.


89 posted on 05/31/2006 3:56:05 PM PDT by RobRoy
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To: RobRoy

Oops. I left of the sarcasm tag. My, but my face is red...


90 posted on 05/31/2006 3:57:03 PM PDT by RobRoy
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To: Hazwaste; misterrob; elkfersupper; Dog Gone; NerdDad
I knew of towns that would stop anyone that looked like they didn't live in an area

I was only a jury panel two weeks age, where the ADA asked if anyone had problems about "pretext searchs". I and six others did and we didn't get picked for the jury.

I have been a victim of this practice more than two dozen times, because I was driving through a town in the early morning hours. My business sometimes requires that I go places at all hours of the day.

91 posted on 05/31/2006 4:03:46 PM PDT by razorback-bert (Kooks For Kinky)
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To: RadioAstronomer
However, the Vette is filled with bits of this and that from the space program (ALL ACQUIRED LEGALLY) such as a meteorite, three axis Inertial Nav unit, carbon-carbon skin, MLI, shuttle tile material, sensors, PMTs, thermal OSRs, CCD focal plane assembly, honeycomb skin, solar panels, flight computer, spacecraft panels, mono-propellant fuel line, RF cable, solar sail material, Astro-Quartz, x-band dish antenna, microwave omni antennas, flat ceramic microwave antennas, an RF subsystem assembly, blue nomex flight suit, Carbon/Kevlar clean-room suit, Neutron detectors, Vela Satellite sensor assembly, Indium foil, Kapton, Mylar, Titanium struts, Cray 3 computer boards, ceramic parts, core memory arrays, waveguide, 76GHz microwave assembly with feed, ring laser 3 axis gyro assembly, beta cloth, gamma and xray detectors, etc.

I call foul - unless you have the new SUV Vette.

92 posted on 05/31/2006 4:06:02 PM PDT by Flyer (Xenalyte is having a Hoop Skirt Hullabaloo all week!)
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To: sit-rep

If the checkpoints in the end prove to be unpopular, then they will either stop them, and if they decide not to in the face of opposition, then we'll toss Jones out on his ass in 2009. That's what makes this different than what an authoritarian government would do. If the road blocks prove unpopular over time, the City Council will take up the issue and then it will cease.


93 posted on 05/31/2006 4:07:19 PM PDT by AzaleaCity5691 (The enemy used to lie in the heart of Gadsden, now Riley outpolls him by 50 points)
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To: AzaleaCity5691

"Papers, please" policies are a cancer on liberty, and their proponents are dangerous enablers of tyranny.


94 posted on 05/31/2006 4:09:43 PM PDT by mysterio
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To: razorback-bert

I am totally opposed to random checkpoints.

I don't see how they're constitutional, even though I've read the Supreme Court cases holding that they are. I disagree with their reasoning.


95 posted on 05/31/2006 4:12:18 PM PDT by Dog Gone
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To: brytlea
I think they only need probable cause. For instance, if they believe they smell marijuana or if a drug dog hits on the car.

And if the first dog doesn't hit, bring a second dog to the scene. Happened to me.

96 posted on 05/31/2006 4:16:43 PM PDT by Flyer (Xenalyte is having a Hoop Skirt Hullabaloo all week!)
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To: AzaleaCity5691
I could give a rat's ass about Jones. I was talking about you. You made this statement following the article...

It's a good idea and it should be adopted around the country

So, allow me to state again... Go back to where it was you came from. We don't like checkpoints in this country.

97 posted on 05/31/2006 4:23:32 PM PDT by sit-rep (http://trulineint.com/latestposts.asp)
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To: RadioAstronomer
This is an example. If it does not make sense, as in 'how can this be?' then it is time to start the laborious process of finding out what is going on. Much of what is incomprehensible in our political system such as the Kelo decision comes to make sense even though the reality is other than we might think it should be from our somewhat cursory education in the public school system.

My own eye-opening came at a city council meeting where a citizen came to testify about something where he did not understand reality. He became unruly and police were called. The Mayor banned him from going on public land for six months, and that essentially put him under house arrest since he could not leave his own property. How can the Mayor do that? Are we not the public? The citizen said he was there representing the public, and in that he was quite wrong since he was in fact addressing the representative of the public--the Mayor. From that you progress to understanding how Washington DC can prohibit oil drilling in ANWR or anywhere on Federal land (public lands), or how snowmachines can be restricted in Yellowstone (public lands). You can even go into the outer space environment and see the real problem with the 1967 UN Outer Spaxce Treaty, which is where most people log off the discussion if they have gottten that far.

Anyway, however you get into the topic and wherever you start, there is a lot of reading and history to cover. You might even begin to wonder where the public corporation came from and why they call General Motors, for example, a public corporation when it is privately owned.

You may choose to undertake this mission or not. If you accept this mission, you will perform the equivalent of yet another college degree and your reality will be changed forever.

98 posted on 05/31/2006 4:24:03 PM PDT by RightWhale (Off touch and out of base)
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To: Flyer

I had a dog trainer tell me that if the dog sits, doesn't sit,barks, doesn't bark, in short anything the dog does can be called a hit.


99 posted on 05/31/2006 4:26:38 PM PDT by razorback-bert (Kooks For Kinky)
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To: AzaleaCity5691
While stuck in line for one of these, I watched the cops "strip search" a car belonging to 2 old ladies. I'm guessing they either had an AK47 on the back seat, OR they innocently agreed to the "random" search the cops requested. The ladies stood beside the car in 90+ degree midday heat, clearly distraught, while the cops EMPTIED their suitcases & belongings on the ground.

After an unsuccessful search, the cops went to the next car, leaving the old ladies to repack their luggage & car in the broiling sun. I wanted to help the ladies, but it's not a good idea to "interfere" in a situation like this. Disgusting!

NEVER agree to a search of your car - you are giving up your rights, & placing yourself in an unnecessarily helpless situation. A bad cop with a small bag in his pocket can ruin your life forever. And there are plenty of bad cops - they're in the paper nearly every day!

Since you think these road blocks are so good, how often would you suggest they use them in your neighborhood? Once a week? How about EVERY day - ALL day? That should catch a few bad guys, but I don't see your neighborhood being one bit safer because of it. Enjoy the lines.
100 posted on 05/31/2006 4:26:39 PM PDT by Mister Da (The mark of a wise man is not what he knows, but what he knows he doesn't know!)
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