Posted on 01/02/2010 8:59:29 AM PST by FromLori
Six people were arrested on suspicion of drunken driving, 12 were cited for driving while unlicensed and 18 vehicles were impounded during a New Year's Even checkpoint conducted by the Santa Maria Police Department.
A total of 1,386 vehicles passed through the checkpoint, which was set up in the 200 block of South Broadway from 6 p.m. Thursday until 1 a.m. Friday, police said. Officers screened 462 of those vehicles.
Of the 18 vehicles impounded at the checkpoint, 17 were driven by undocumented immigrants, police said.
Funding for the program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Ping!
Racial Profiling
Geeze o petes
Imagine getting hit by one of them no insurance a friend of my daughters was hit by one in Milwaukee no insurance of course!
What does everybody think about the appropriateness of DUI checkpoints? I have mixed feelings.
They should be daily!!!!
I think that although they are distasteful, they are necessary because a lot of stupid people drive when they shouldn't. Like anything else, a few idiots ruin it for the rest of us.
I have mixed feelings too actually I am not big on having my rights trampled but at the same time I am not big on having my loved ones killed or having our borders wide open.
“What does everybody think about the appropriateness of DUI checkpoints? I have mixed feelings.”
Also in California, there are fairly new signs which read “Report Drunk Drivers.”
FYI in California, DUI checkpoints are announced (publicized) in advance.
Take it from a former drunk and professional drunk driver. DUI checkpoints only catch the dumb ones. They don’t put DUI checkpoints on backroads and I used that as a means of getting around them for years.
1300 vehicles inspected.......................12 arrested, good use of police protection?
I am sure you know that checkpoints are used as a deterrent just as much as an enforcement technique. It serves them well to be highly publicized.
I'd say it was an effective use of police,although the very idea of roadblocks in non-emergency situations is repugnant.Getting 17 uninsured vehicles off the road is a good thing ,too.My car was rear-ended in motion by an uninsured driver and I received nothing,luckily the plastic bumper and shocks on my car popped back into place,the automatic transmission failed a couple weeks later.I've heard pushing an automatic transmission is very hard on it.
Dear Federal Government:
Please enforce the law and stop the bad guys at borders.
Good stuff, they must have removed the article from the paper?
Yes they are posted in advance here in Kansas too...must be some legal hurdle.
I understand the need to keep the roads safe...but, I don’t like the random stop. The only time I ever went through one, my out of state tag piqued their interest, and I had to pull to the side for ‘additional questioning’...which was annoying.
I guess I just don’t see the checkpoints as being any more effective than patrolling for drivers that actually exhibit drunk driving. How many accidents does the 0.08 guy (who would only be caught at the checkpoint) really cause?...as opposed to the 0.2 guy, who would be noticed and stopped by the same officer who is tied up running the checkpoint?
Personally, I think the checkpoints are designed to catch the 0.08 driver, who is much more likely to pay for the diversion...while the serious drunks (with a high tat to tooth ratio and little money) are ignored.
Let’s run the numbers, and see if this was a fishing expedition or a genuine law enforcement action, shall we?
1386 vehicles were stopped and given the “once over” by the local constabulary. Let’s assume that each car had two people in it. Many had only one, but many had three or more, so let’s go with an average of two.
2772 people were interrupted for a few moments, minding their own business on their personal errands by the police. That’s not such a big deal, since if there were a prison escape or a bank robbery, or some other major felony, it would only be prudent to warn the travelling public by all means possible of the potential danger.
462 of the above “informational stops” (I’m being generous here) were pulled off to the side of the road for more detailed questioning. So, now we have 924 people detained for further questioning with NO SUSPICION of wrongdoing other than they were driving down the road.
18 vehicles were impounded at the roadblock, 17 of which were driven by illegals. So, if each illegal’s vehicle had TEN total riders, all of whom were illegals, we have a grand total of 171 people who should have been arrested after inconveniencing Two Thousand Six Hundred and One innocent passers-by, Seven Hundred Fifty Three of whom were held up for a minimum of 15 minutes.
Of those 2772 people, SIX were arrested for the putative reason for the roadblock, “DWI/DUI”. The other 165 arrests (that didn’t happen) were the result of dumb luck.
This does not sound like a good use of NHTSA funds to me, since these roadblocks are staffed by cops on OVERTIME pay.
If DUI laws and roadblocks are supposed to make us safer by getting dangerous drivers and criminals off the road, why were the illegals let go?
We won’t even go into the constantly moving goalposts of the DUI game.
What they did?
No I went back to check it is there
See my #18
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.