Yeah, and don't y'all wish it was this easy... 
to give out a sample?
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.”
BTTT!
some people will love the government no matter how bad it gets I guess
“You had better NEVER leave America.”
I can easily name at least 10 cities I’ve visited in other countries which are way safer than Obama’s America. I’d live in any of them vs. DC.
Yeah, and don't y'all wish it was this easy... to give out a sample?
“it simply states them and restricts the authority of the government to infringe upon them.”
Of course, no government could ever have any rightful authority to infringe upon them. That’s why Jefferson called them “unalienable.”
We don’t measure right or wrong here by comparing our police to Saudi or Mexican police.
That’s like saying you’ll tolerate your wife kissing the neighbor by pointing out how much worse street prostitutes are.
There is an American standard of civil rights. Anything short of that needs to meet very energetic resistance.
It’s not about DUI, it’s about collecting DNA.
Hope that's what most of my fellow Texans are doing, as well.
Yeah, we get it, you are the wizened world traveler. Guess what? Lots of us have been around the rough block too. And we learned why it matters that American police live up to the highest standards and we will accept nothing less.
Those lines of yours might work picking up peace corps girls, but this is a tougher crowd.
“Officer, I’m exercising my 4th and 5th Amendment rights, and respectfully refuse.”
“If I’m being charged, I want an attorney.”
“If not, I’d like to be on my way, thank you.”
Since you love laws, rules and regulations, you should move to Cuba or North Korea, which have plenty of those.
Hey! Country “X” randomly executes citizens at will. That means country “Y” has it so good and they are such a free people because they only get tortured randomly! They’ve never been outside of country “Y” so they just don’t understand how coddled and free they really are! Try living in country “X” and you’ll realize just how lucky you are to only be tortured!
That’s sarcasm but I think it also illustrates your flawed thought process quite well. We have RIGHTS that are LAW. The CONSTITUTION is the LAW. What happens in OTHER countries does not justify our RIGHTS being DISREGARDED in THIS country.
If everyone in this country went along with your thought process, our constitution would be eliminated very quickly and all of our freedoms with it. Your willingness to submit to a clear violation of your constitutional rights is a path to servitude. Maybe you don’t like actual freedom, like the freedoms guaranteed by our constitution, but many of us do. You would settle for table scraps while somebody else enjoys your meal.
There was more “law” and there was more “order” in my and my parent’s day. We don’t need cops or the government wasting time pulling us over and forcing us to give them bodily fluids as the “price” to pay for living in a “free” country. This country is less free when TPTB take away your freedom of driving down publicly funded streets without being harrassed to show your “papers” or pulled over and give them your spit or blood for pete’s sake.
Don’t forget the sodomization specials they have in New Mexico!
That’s what I’m thinking but why...free research? Twice I’ve had some lab send a kit to me through the mail where they wanted me to prick my finger with an enclosed lancet send the sample back to them for analysis. I don’t remember precisely what it was they wanted to test...I asked and nobody else at work had received such a thing so it didn’t appear to be on behalf of my insurance company. Weird. I was thinking no way am I going to send that and have unknown entities out there with my dna.
Right on! And thank you for your service sir.
I know it! I couldn’t afford to fight it when something similar happened, just paid the 90$ ticket and got supervision. At midnight I’m heading home from work getting on the tollway only the I-pass lanes were blocked and they had the gate down and a cop on the other side of the only open lane. I stopped, asked what’s going on, he says “Random Safety check mam please pull over on the left” and I said “wait a second it’s my birthday, I got off work late already, and my husband’s waiting for me, what did I do wrong that you can detain me?” He says “well you were going 40 when it’s 15 through here” It was BS I couldn’t have been doing 40 when I’d just turned from the light and had to stop at the tollbooth. Anyways I raised my voice about it being unconstitutional and then pulled over but with a squealing of the tires (stupid I know but I was angry, felt violated) and he gave me a ticket for it. Never knew one could even get a ticket for tires squealing while braking lol. I called State Police when I got home and they were nice but did say it’s perfectly legal (of course they would duh)Ironically my license also had expired the very day the officer pulled it. as well. But I digress..
Why do you think it is the 'job' of our police to spend millions of dollars (borrowed from overseas, with interest carried into perpetuity by future taxpayers) randomly collecting DNA samples from motorists?
And if you're curious, I have lived and traveled overseas. I won't use piss poor governments abroad to give mine a pass at home for doing things it should not be doing.
“Go live in those places for a week.”
You assume much. I lived abroad for many years. And I agree, it’s rather the eye opener. Especially when you see so many things that you didn’t like coming to your own country.
You’re barking up the wrong tree.
“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.”
I’ve seen that first hand living abroad and am disgusted to see those same things happening in my own country. At one point in our history, we tried to make the world be more like our example. It seems that in recent years we’ve decided to be more the rest of the world. Particularly the third world when it comes to police practices.
“You sir, are clueless.”
And you, sir, are far too self-righteous. You also assume you know something about people that you don’t.
“Mind you, I suspect that you are very bright and would figure things out FAST...and come home even faster.”
Guess I’m not too bright, as I lived overseas for about a decade. And there’s a fair chance that I’ll live abroad again.
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