Orange County warning - DUI checkpoint 8/25

[RobotMirror]

Note: It's never a good idea to have enough drinks to drive above the legal limit. In fact, you should play it safe and get someone else to drive you if you even think you might have one drink.

However, if this plays into your calculations of what do do tomorrow, then consider this:

The Costa Mesa PD is going to have a checkpoint tomorrow in an undisclosed location (probably newport avenue or 17th street), from 6pm to 2am. More information available at the following link:

http://www.ci.costa-mesa.ca.us/docs/...Checkpoint.pdf

[Grumpy4]

They usually set it up on Newport Blvd and 19th street, just before the freeway. That's where I've seen it before.

[RobotMirror]

Originally Posted by Grumpy4

They usually set it up on Newport Blvd and 19th street, just before the freeway. That's where I've seen it before.

I knew I had seen one near there before. I though it was 17th. There are a lot of bars and now clubs near there.

[DisneyDan24]

Just don't drink and drive and you'll be ok

[RobotMirror]

That's the idea. But if someone was thinking about doing something stupid, and then realized there's a checkpoint, it might prevent the event a priori, right?

[DisneyDan24]

Originally Posted by Frogberto

That's the idea. But if someone was thinking about doing something stupid, and then realized there's a checkpoint, it might prevent the event a priori, right?

True true, nice use of the Latin.

[Hyperbole]

Am I alone in thinking these DUI "checkpoints" are a huge farce? I thought randomly stopping citizens and demanding their "papers" was unconstitutional.

It really ticks me off everytime I hear of these checkpoints, think about how much money is being spent, how many cops are off the street and kept from LOOKING for drunk drivers, and the fact that most of the people ticketed in these operations are not DUI, but rather have expired registration or a broken headlight.

They're a joke.

[migo]

DUI checkpoints have always "interested" me. From what I've heard...they have to have signs saying that there is a DUI checkpoint up ahead...giving that person time to opt out. What's the point?

[Grumpy4]

I've seen checkpoints have traffic backups that are a couple miles long. People are still stupid enough to wait...drunk or sober. So they must be doing something right!

[migo]

Good story....my cousin's now husband/then boyfriend was turning 21. So, she took him out, of course. Apparently he got plastered drunk, threw up on himself in the car, then stripped down naked. Yes, they were the car that got stopped at the checkpoint, and yes, the cop laughed furiously at his nudity.

[Motorboat Cruiser]

I played a very strange gig in Anaheim one time a few years go. Strange because we aren't often called to play for friends and families of someone whose funeral occurred that day. Still, it was a celebration of this persons life, who had died of cancer and requested beforehand that his friends throw a big party after his funeral. It was at a VFW hall and there were hundreds of people in attendance. A LOT of drinking going on.

After we packed up, we left and you could only turn one way out of the parking lot, which also happened to be the way back to the freeway. A few blocks up, there was a sobriety checkpoint. All I could think of was that most of the people that had just spent their day mourning their friend were going to be spending their evening in jail. I bet the checkpoint had an unusually large number of arrests that evening.

[RobotMirror]

Originally Posted by Hyperbole

Am I alone in thinking these DUI "checkpoints" are a huge farce? I thought randomly stopping citizens and demanding their "papers" was unconstitutional.

It really ticks me off everytime I hear of these checkpoints, think about how much money is being spent, how many cops are off the street and kept from LOOKING for drunk drivers, and the fact that most of the people ticketed in these operations are not DUI, but rather have expired registration or a broken headlight.

They're a joke.

You couldn't be more correct! Out of hundreds of drivers, there are usually only a few arrests for DUI. Check out these recent stats from local police:

The Irvine Police Department conducted a sobriety/driver’s license checkpoint during the evening hours on Saturday, December 17, 2005. The checkpoint was located on Mac Arthur Blvd. at Douglas in the city of Irvine. Here are the results of that checkpoint:

Total vehicles stopped: 337
DUI arrests: 2
Other arrests: 9
Citations: 17
Vehicles Towed: 10

The Huntington Beach Police Department conducted a sobriety checkpoint on Saturday, June 10, 2006 from about 9:30 P.M. to 1:45 A.M.

More than 1300 vehicles passed through the checkpoint and about 400 vehicles were selected for screening. Of the 400 vehicles selected, three drivers were arrested for driving under the influence, eighteen were issued citations for driving without a license or for driving on a suspended license, and nineteen vehicles were impounded. Three people were cited for driving with an open container. Four others were arrested for possession of stolen property, possession of burglary tools, possession of marijuana, and for warrants.

The stats are in for the special checkpoint taskforce for Orange County for the two weeks before and including New Year's Eve 2005. A joint task force with the OC Sheriff's, Costa Mesa PD, and the Irvine PD held four checkpoints, as previously noted.

Out of 500 vehicle stops, there were 12 DUI arrests, 18 arrests for not having a license or having a suspended license, 4 warrants served, and 3 juveniles arrested for having prescription medications.

Like much of everything else in modern society, the explanation for why these continue is politics. MADD is one of the largest political action groups in the country, and they usually volunteer at each checkpoint, serving coffee and donuts, handing out MADD literature, and assisting with paperwork. In turn, the police receive DUI grant funding from the State and the Feds, as promised to MADD.

But it doesn't work, and it's the least effective way for the money to catch people DUI. It's just about keeping MADD busy, and happy.

Regarding your "random" comment, that's the only way that the U.S. Supreme Court has stated it's legal. Police either use a random number generator, or publish guidelines ahead of time, such as "every third car", to avoid the problem of stopping just people based on a certain race, type of car, etc. So the system, as designed, has to let certain people go to keep up the "random nature" of the stops.

[RobotMirror]

Originally Posted by migo

DUI checkpoints have always "interested" me. From what I've heard...they have to have signs saying that there is a DUI checkpoint up ahead...giving that person time to opt out. What's the point?

True, sort of. There is a case in California, the Ingersoll case, that sets up what a valid checkpoint is. There has to be prior notice and publication of the checkpoint (which is how I get the information), and an "opt out" pathway, so that the checkpoint is not the only way through a particular area, among other requirements. This requirement is to avoid entrapment claims, but, as you can expect, intoxicated drivers aren't going to choose to go through the checkpoint.

There doesn't have to be signs, but with the police lights, traffic cones, and overhead floodlights, you can see one a mile away.