Posted on 11/19/2013 6:55:25 PM PST by markomalley
Dozens of Texas drivers have been stopped at a police road block, where they were then directed into a parking lot and forced into surrendering blood, saliva and breath samples in a study that has upset civil liberties advocates.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration admitted it was attempting to conduct a government study meant to determine the number of drunk or drug-impaired drivers on the road at any given time.
“It just doesn’t seem right that you can be forced off the road when you’re not doing anything wrong,” Kim Cope, who said she was forced to the side of the road while making her way to lunch, told NBCDFW.com. “I gestured to the guy in front that I just wanted to go straight, but he wouldn’t let me and forced me into the parking spot.”
The tests were made even more mysterious when reporters, alerted to the situation by concerned drivers, were unable to find any officers in the Fort Worth Police Department who had been involved. The NHTSA only admitted its involvement after local media sought answers.
The department, which says its mission is to “save lives, prevent injuries, and reduce vehicle-related crashes,” maintains that participation in the research was completely voluntary. But Ms. Cope said she felt trapped during what seemed to be an investigation.
“I finally did the breathalyzer test just because I thought it would be the easiest way to leave,” she said. “It just doesn’t seem right that they should be able to do any of it. If it’s voluntary, it’s voluntary, and none of it felt voluntary.”
When pressed, the FWPD said it was “reviewing the actions of all police personnel involved to ensure that FWPD policies and procedures were followed.” The NBC affiliate was able to determine that the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, a government contractor, was hired to conduct the check.
An NHTSA spokesperson admitted similar programs were being conducted in 30 other cities throughout the US.
But civil liberties attorney Frank Colosi does not accept the rationale.
“You can’t just be pulled over randomly or for no reason,” he said. “They’re essentially lying to you when they say it’s completely voluntary, because they’re testing you at that moment.”
He added that drivers who refused may have been targeted by police for inadvertently giving the impression they were operating a vehicle under the influence. He also told NBC that fine print on the form told drivers their breath was being tested by “passive alcohol sensor readings before the consent process has been completed.”
This oddity comes just months after Texas state troopers were caught on video conducting vaginal and cavity searches on female drivers at the side of the road. The videos quickly went viral, and attorneys for the women filed federal lawsuits against the troopers.
“It’s ridiculous,” Peter Schulte, a former Texas police officer and prosecutor, told the New York Daily News earlier this year. “I was a law enforcement officer for 16 years and I never saw anything like it.”
“..the THIN BLUE LINE is essential in this world..”
What would we do without them? I mean, how many wrong doors wouldn’t be smashed down? How many family pets would go unshot?
Yup. God Bless that Thin Blue Line that all that stands between us and societal chaos.
When do we get to take random blood samples from the NHTSA? They’re “working” on our dime.
Testing how soft we are. My guess is they are pretty happy with the results. The media will do as they are told, with a smile and a click of the heels.
Yep. That is the price of the freedom to live in a law-abiding country. Laws, rules, regulations...all of the above.
I lived in Mexico City for two years and did have to pay "mordidas" a few times. I was actually in the wrong all three times.
Once I was in the wrong; the cop stopped me, scolded me and then let me go. He could have hauled me off to the pokey but he just read me the riot act. And no, I didn't cry. I almost did, but I didn't. He COULD HAVE done whatever he wanted. I knew that. I wasn't in Kansas any more.
An honest, good Mexican motorcycle cop. Go figure.
Lol. You had better NEVER leave America. STAY HERE. THIS is the best country in the world....and I have lived in MANY places. You wouldn't do well in 3rd world countries where law is ... not the same as it is here. God bless America.
I lived in Mexico City for two years and in Saudi Arabia for five years.
Go live in those places for a week. You will stop bad-mouthing the USA and its "rules and regulations" pretty quick.
Easy to pick apart what you have and don't like. Try living in China, India, Kenya or Egypt for....a week, no for a day, no for 10 minutes. ;o)
I've been to all those places. God bless America and all its rules and regulations!
Looks like an experiment to see how far citizens can be pushed. A dry run for a totalitarian state? Whatever it is, it’s not acceptable in a free country.
They know that if they can get away with this in Texas they can get away with it anywhere.
Where are the ones who always say “that would never happen in Texas!” .
Did you miss the part where this was warrantless and performed on the part of the NHTSA for the purported purpose of a study? You mentioned places where law enforcement agencies are capricious. Did you miss the irony?
But, but, but, this is Texas, the Land of Milk and Honey! Like the song says Texas has Whorehouses in It,” and its called their Police Stations! All you Texas Freepers need to do some serious ass whooping on your cops. They make the rest of the country look good! Maybe not as bad as your “neighbor,” New Mexico, because I haven’t read that you are shooting at motorists yet!
“Yep. That is the price of the freedom to live in a law-abiding country. Laws, rules, regulations...all of the above. “
NO. You are wrong, you would give them your DNA, because you are on the road? It is AMAZING how easily and freely, you give up your freedoms. This in not Mexico. They need a warrant.
you dont unless you are using the roads for commerce and your vehicle for commerce.
Hey, citizen, those violations of your civil rights are necessary to, uh, protect you, or something. If it weren’t for the random violations of your civil and property rights, why we’d be like all those third world countries that violate the rights of citizens.
Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents
Argued January 12, 1971
Decided June 21, 1971
Full case name Webster Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Federal Bureau of Narcotics
Citations 403 U.S. 388 (more)
91 S. Ct. 1999; 29 L. Ed. 2d 619; 1971 U.S. LEXIS 23
Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Federal Bureau of Narcotics
Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents, 403 U.S. 388 (1971),[1] was a case in which the United States Supreme Court ruled that an implied cause of action existed for an individual whose Fourth Amendment freedom from unreasonable search and seizures had been violated by federal agents. The victim of such a deprivation could sue for the violation of the Amendment itself, despite the lack of any federal statute authorizing such a suit. The existence of a remedy for the violation was implied from the importance of the right violated.
Bivens has been subsequently interpreted to create a cause of action against the federal government similar to the one 42 U.S.C. § 1983 creates against the states.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bivens_v._Six_Unknown_Named_Agents
Since NHTSA is a federal agency, they stepped in this steaming pile, they own it.
Isn’t the 4th Amendment one of our laws?
Read further in the article; FWPD was just part of this. This crap was all under the umbrella of a NHTSA study. The National Highway Safety Administration was running this show. Chilling, no?
Yup. God Bless that Thin Blue Line that all that stands between us and societal chaos.
You don't know chaos until you live in a country where the thin blue line AND the army are to be avoided, feared and NEVER trusted. No medal of honor for those poor men. The Third World countries often get their police from the prisons.
You sir, are clueless. Go live abroad and make the comparison: USA versus Mexico, South/Central America, Africa, Asia and Russia. You wouldn't last 10 minutes there with your attitude. Mind you, I suspect that you are very bright and would figure things out FAST...and come home even faster.
Great, innit, to live in a country that lets you whine, bellyache and publicly complain about EVERYTHING with no repercussions and no consequences?
You seem to be condoning the increasing levels of statism.
Greatness is not about being slightly better than crap.
Moral relativism isn't much of an argument for accepting evil.
“Where are the ones who always say “that would never happen in Texas!” .”
Federal officers did this, it was not a state or city matter. They did get some off duty cops to help them but this was a federal program. It remains to be seen what response Texas will have. I expect an explosion out of our Attorney General Greg Abbott for the feds doing this.
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