DWI checkpoints

[Outdoorsfool]

My brother went through a DWI checkpoint Friday night on Highway 5 south of Versailles. He was in traffic at the checkpoint for over an hour, before he got through it. They had traffic backed up to the point it eventually became hazardous and they had to let part of the cars through to avoid a dangerous situation.



My understanding, of at least part of court ruling that allows for use of checkpoints, is that it's a minor inconvenience to driver's compared to relative risk a drunk driver poses. What constitutes "minor" inconvenience and/or how long would you consider sitting in a checkpoint to be "too long"??



It is only a matter of time before LEO end up killing someone waiting in line at one of their DWI checks.

[PoisonSnake]

Lucky for him probably that he was able to sober up by the time it came time for him to be checked.

[Outdoorsfool]

Nice try, but strike one. He was toting his daughter and pulling a trailer. He was legal eagle at the time!

Speaking of which though, doesn't that also kind of defeat their purpose? If someone sits in line that long, their BAC is going to be dropping that whole time. Wonder how much other contraband was along the side of the road Saturday morning?

[PoisonSnake]

That was exzachary what I was thinking when I posted that OF. I think it would give a guy some time to run from car to car to get some chewing gum too. You might even be able to run a hundred yard dash to the nearest filling station for some mouthwash.

[Tigerhaze]

I agree with the safety issue- Jackson County Sheriff's Dept. and the Highway Patrol have routinely conducted sobriety checkpoints on Hwy 50 at the county line west of Lone Jack during the summer months to catch drunks coming back from LOZ towards KC. If you haven't driven that stretch of 50 Hwy, it is very hilly with a limited line of sight. I believe there have been several rear end collisions due to the long lines of stopped traffic on this highway for checkpoints- I have heard that the lines were more than a mile long for the checkpoints. As usual the LEOs took the opportunity to try and enforce a lot of non-DWI laws for seatbelt and equipment violations, contraband, etc. I saw the stats for those checkpoints and there was a very low arrest rate for DWI violations relative to the total volume of traffic stopped.



It seems to me that the taxpayers are better served by using checkpoint money for increased patrols and targeted stops for the actual dangerous drivers out there without hasseling the 99%+ drivers that are not driving drunk.

[Big John]

I wouldn't recommend mouthwash.

[Rafe Hollister]

As soon as I saw the topic I knew who posted it. Jeez.

Anyway, "wolfpacks", where a community is saturated with local, county & state police intent on finding drunk drivers, work much better than checkpoints. I've worked a checkpoint or two, and when they're done right, the wait is less than 2 minutes.

[Rafe Hollister]

Big John said:
I wouldn't recommend mouthwash.

That's not saying much. You probably don't recommend showering, bathing, toothbrushing, or wiping after you crap.

[Outdoorsfool]

Rafe - Get over it. At least I'm posting something worth discussing and not attempting to be a comedian making BS posts about little johnsons, mouthwash, bathing, etc.. Sheesh...get over yerself already. Interesting how you always complain about my posts, yet continue to read them and reply on them. There's an ignore button, quit whining like a girl and use it.

I wasn't aware Jasper Co. health dept. conducted drunk checks down there. I have never been through a checkpoint that has taken only 2 minutes, ever. It might be possible in nowhere-ville, but it won't happen during summer months or holiday weekends where there are actually people around.



Tiger - All the stats I've seen routinely show DWI and all other associated arrests and tickets at well below 5% of those stopped and very often less than 1%. I looked for stats on Friday's checkpoint, but nothing came up under google or MHP's site. My understanding is that MHP was in attendance, but it was operated by county LEO.

[Big John]

Rafe Hollister said:

Big John said:

I wouldn't recommend mouthwash.

That's not saying much. You probably don't recommend showering, bathing, toothbrushing, or wiping after you crap.

Rafe I am so how not surprised you're talking out of your s-h-i-t hole again.

[Tigerhaze]

I did find these press releases by the MHP from the holiday weekend:

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Troop G Releases Results Of Sobriety Checkpoint

NEWS RELEASE

For further information please contact: Sergeant Martin K. Elmore
(417) 469-3121
G-05074
May 29, 2007

EMPHASIS: Troop G Releases Results Of Sobriety Checkpoint


Captain Billy E. Chadwick, commanding officer of Troop G releases the following information:

A total of 68 arrests and 73 warnings were issued in conjunction with a sobriety checkpoint conducted in Reynolds County. The checkpoint was held from 5:00 - 9:00 p.m. on May 26, 2007, at the intersection of Peola Road and County Road 364.
These totals include 9 misdemeanor driving while intoxicated arrests, 16 misdemeanor drug arrests, five minor in possession arrests, two misdemeanor warrant arrests, two misdemeanor criminal arrests, five driver?s license arrests, 14 seat belt arrests, and 12 non-moving arrests, and three uninsured motorist arrests.
?Intoxicated drivers create a hazard for everyone on the road,? said Capt. Chadwick. ?Please don?t drink and drive, and always exercise the highest degree of care when you get behind the wheel.?

Results Of Troop E DWI Checkpoint In Butler County

NEWS RELEASE

For further information please contact: Sergeant Dale H. Moreland
(573) 840-9500
052321
May 23, 2007

EMPHASIS: Results Of Troop E DWI Checkpoint In Butler County



Captain George E. Ridens, commanding officer of Troop E, announces the results of a DWI checkpoint conducted in Troop E, Butler County, that began on May 18, 2007, at 10 p.m. and ended on May 19, 2007, at 3 a.m. During the operation, troopers were assigned to conduct sobriety checkpoints at locations known to have a high number of alcohol-related arrests and traffic crashes.
Troopers made 11 arrests during the shift: two felony driving while intoxicated arrests, five minor in possession arrests, one misdemeanor drug arrest, and three misdemeanor warrant arrests. Traffic citations issued by officers included 12 for seat belt violations, one for no child restraint, fourteen for no driver?s license, and eight non-moving violations. Troopers also issued 89 warnings for various other traffic violations during the operation.
Captain Ridens stated, ?The impaired driver continues to be a major contributor to serious traffic crashes in southeast Missouri. DWI checkpoints are a part of the Patrol?s effort to remove intoxicated drivers from Missouri roadways. The troopers in the Troop E area will continue to pursue this goal.?


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I noticed that while they have a counting period, they never actually provide a count of how mnay people were stopped relative to the arrest totals. I also noticed that DWI violations are a very minor fraction of the arrest totals, as usual. I am not saying that enforcement of these laws is not important, but rather that an inefficient and indiscriminate method (i.e. checkpoints) is not in the best interest of the taxpaying public.Saturated patrols (i.e. "wolfpacks") seems like amuch better enforcement method.

(###)
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[Warmouth]

There weren't any checkpoints at Lone Jack this year, but the cops were out all weekend in full force all over the Kansas City area.

[Outdoorsfool]

Tigerhaze - Here is the story about the Morgan County checkpoint:
MORGAN COUNTY - More than 680 drivers were stopped on Route 5 just south of Versailles last Friday night as part of a DWI spot check.

Two arrests were made that were alcohol related, said Sheriff Jim Petty.

Other arrests and summons include: five traffic arrests, 14 drug related charges, eight drivers not carrying insurance, one license violation, one littering charge and one illegal alien.


Petty said traffic was so heavy due to the holiday weekend, many cars were waived by, avoiding the stop.

He also said he was pleased by the low number of alcohol-related charges.

'It's a good number. It's low. It means people are getting smart and not drinking and driving,' he said.



The check was conducted by the Morgan County Sheriff's Office with assistance by the Missouri Conservation Department, Missouri Highway Patrol, Mid-Missouri Drug Task Force, 911 employees, Morgan County Reserve Deputies and Morgan County Detention Officers.

Petty said the spot check was built into the schedule so no overtime was needed by his officers.

Contact this reporter at deannaw@lakesunleader.com
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Let's crunch some numbers:
2 alcohol related arrests out of 680 drivers = .003%
ALL arrests and summons out of 680 drivers = .047% (That don't even reach the BAC level. )

The sheriff seems surprised at the amount of traffic he encountered on Friday night of a holiday weekend. He doesn't even mention the serious near misses that caused him to wave traffic through.

[Tigerhaze]

Outdoorsfool said:-----------------------------------------------------------

Let's crunch some numbers:

2 alcohol related arrests out of 680 drivers = .003%

ALL arrests and summons out of 680 drivers = .047% (That don't even reach the BAC level. )

Not to pick at your stats but I can't help it being an engineer and such. 2 out of 680 is 0.3% and 32 out of 680 is 4.7%. Still a relatively low number for the ffort expended. How much you wanna bet that the number of people arrested or charged is less than 32 (i.e. individuals had multiple charges counted separately in the stats)!



Still your point is well taken; again it shows that most of the charges are NOT alcohol related and therefore the legal basis for condcuting checkpoints (safety of the public outweighing indivudal rights to privacy and the 4th amendment) are not valid. I guess they CAN claim they have stopped a dangerous illegal alien from infiltrating our society!

[Outdoorsfool]

Ahhh....right you are.....I used the decimal point and added the % sign with takin' account fer the digits. My bad...

I guess they CAN claim they have stopped a dangerous illegal alien from infiltrating our society!

heck, that's more than INS can claim...especially after letting that TB positive lawyer back in. Should have left that shiftless SOB in Canada! You know that forker, being a personal injury lawyer, would be first in line to file charges against someone that did what he did, but HE wants forgiveness. .