A random checkpoint is a
military
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distin ...
and
police
The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest a ...
tactic
Tactic(s) or Tactical may refer to:
* Tactic (method), a conceptual action implemented as one or more specific tasks
** Military tactics
Military tactics encompasses the art of organizing and employing fighting forces on or near the battlefie ...
. In a military context, checkpoints involve the setup of a hasty
roadblock by mobile truck- or
armored vehicle
Military vehicles are commonly armoured (or armored; see spelling differences) to withstand the impact of shrapnel, bullets, shells, rockets, and missiles, protecting the personnel inside from enemy fire. Such vehicles include armoured fighti ...
-mounted
infantry
Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and m ...
to disrupt unauthorized or unwanted movement or military activity
and to check for valid identification and search for
contraband
Contraband (from Medieval French ''contrebande'' "smuggling") refers to any item that, relating to its nature, is illegal to be possessed or sold. It is used for goods that by their nature are considered too dangerous or offensive in the eyes o ...
,
fugitive
A fugitive (or runaway) is a person who is fleeing from custody, whether it be from jail, a government arrest, government or non-government questioning, vigilante violence, or outraged private individuals. A fugitive from justice, also kn ...
s, or
weapons
A weapon, arm or armament is any implement or device that can be used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime, law enforcement, s ...
that are not permitted in civilian hands. Random checkpoints are set up to achieve surprise, as opposed to known permanently located checkpoints, which suspects could circumvent. They are often established in locations where they cannot be observed by approaching
traffic
Traffic comprises pedestrians, vehicles, ridden or herded animals, trains, and other conveyances that use public ways (roads) for travel and transportation.
Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffi ...
until it is too late to withdraw and escape without being observed.
[UN Checkpoint operations]
/ref>
Patrol car-equipped police units regularly use random checkpoints to detect drivers who are suspected of impaired driving. Police also use hastily set up roadblocks to check cars and car trunks when they are pursuing an armed and dangerous fugitive. As with military checkpoints, sobriety checkpoints and fugitive roadblock searches are located in an area where drivers cannot see the checkpoint until it is too late to withdraw, and checkpoints are only set up on a temporary basis.
Military use
The unit establishing a military checkpoint must carry or obtain the materials necessary to construct it. It might use a large vehicle
A vehicle (from la, vehiculum) is a machine that transports people or cargo. Vehicles include wagons, bicycles, motor vehicles ( motorcycles, cars, trucks, buses, mobility scooters for disabled people), railed vehicles ( trains, trams ...
, or multiple vehicles, such as armored personnel carrier
An armoured personnel carrier (APC) is a broad type of armoured military vehicle designed to transport personnel and equipment in combat zones. Since World War I, APCs have become a very common piece of military equipment around the world.
Acc ...
s to block the road. In addition to blocking the road with vehicles, the road may also be partially blocked with concertina wire or heavy objects, such as sandbags or concrete blocks. The vehicles might be positioned to partially or entirely block the road or route. The search area might be the space between multiple vehicles. Sentries might be positioned at each end of the checkpoint and are covered by mounted or dismounted machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifl ...
positions. A reaction force may be designated and concealed nearby.[
Vehicular and pedestrian traffic that approach with the intent of passing flying checkpoints can be asked to produce identification and submit to a search of their persons or vehicle. The trunks of cars are typically searched. In some countries, soldiers inspect the bottom of the car with a mirror to look for bombs. In some cases, people without proper identification or who arouse suspicion may be refused passage, detained, or arrested. ]Contraband
Contraband (from Medieval French ''contrebande'' "smuggling") refers to any item that, relating to its nature, is illegal to be possessed or sold. It is used for goods that by their nature are considered too dangerous or offensive in the eyes o ...
may be confiscated.[
A random checkpoint must be functional within 15 minutes of the unit's arrival on-site, and establish ]security" \n\n\nsecurity.txt is a proposed standard for websites' security information that is meant to allow security researchers to easily report security vulnerabilities. The standard prescribes a text file called \"security.txt\" in the well known locat ...
teams 50–100 meters on both sides of the area to be controlled. Advanced observation posts may also be positioned further out if desired.[''Guide to Military Operations Other Than War: Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures for Stability & Support Operations'', Keith Earle Bonn, Anthony E. Baker, pp.113–115] When large geographical areas need to be monitored, some types of checkpoint may be quickly airlifted by helicopter from one location to another.
Flying roadblocks and checkpoints are usually established for no more than a few hours, in order to decrease the possibility of insurgent
An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion against authority waged by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare from primarily rural base areas. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric nature: small irregu ...
attacks on them, as well as to maintain their effectiveness as a surprising, unexpected obstacle.
Random checkpoints are a common tactic used by many military forces, and have been recently used by UN forces in Kosovo
Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Eur ...
, the Israeli army in the West Bank
The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
and US forces in Iraqi Kurdistan
Iraqi Kurdistan or Southern Kurdistan ( ku, باشووری کوردستان, Başûrê Kurdistanê) refers to the Kurdish-populated part of northern Iraq. It is considered one of the four parts of "Kurdistan" in Western Asia, which also inc ...
, and Iraq in search of insurgents, fugitives, and other law breakers. In some war zones, soldiers working at these checkpoints can be severely injured or killed if one of the vehicles they are searching contains a suicide bomber
A suicide attack is any violent attack, usually entailing the attacker detonating an explosive, where the attacker has accepted their own death as a direct result of the attacking method used. Suicide attacks have occurred throughout history ...
who detonates his or her bomb or if one of the occupants fires upon soldiers.
Sobriety checkpoints
Sobriety checkpoints or roadblocks involve law enforcement officials stopping every vehicle (or more typically, every ''n''th vehicle) on a public roadway and investigating the possibility that the driver might be too impaired to drive due to alcohol
Alcohol most commonly refers to:
* Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom
* Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks
Alcohol may also refer to:
Chemicals
* Ethanol, one of sev ...
or drug
A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via inhal ...
consumption. They are often set up late at night or in the very early morning hours and on weekends, and on holidays associated with parties (e.g., New Year's Eve
In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve, also known as Old Year's Day or Saint Sylvester's Day in many countries, is the evening or the entire day of the December 31, last day of the year, on 31 December. The last day of the year is commonly ...
) at which time the proportion of impaired drivers tends to be the highest. Checkpoints are also often set near the exit points of public events where people have been drinking to prevent large numbers of drunk drivers from being released into traffic simultaneously from the event. A roadblock stop is quick action spot for police as well as security personnel.
With a portable and quick Breathalyzer
A breathalyzer or breathalyser (a portmanteau of ''breath'' and ''analyzer/analyser'') is a device for estimating blood alcohol content (BAC), or to detect viruses or diseases from a breath sample.
The name is a genericized trademark of the Br ...
test, the police can test all drivers (if the law permits) for their breath alcohol content (BrAC), and process the cars one by one as if in a conveyor belt. If a police force does not have these testing devices, a more complicated routine is necessary. Upon suspicion that the driver has consumed alcohol, due to the officer noting the smell of alcohol, slurred speech, or other signs, the stopped driver is required to exit the vehicle and asked to take a series of roadside field sobriety tests (FSTs or SFSTs). These tests help the officer to determine whether the person's physical and/or mental skills are impaired. If the officer determines based on his/her observations during the tests that the driver is impaired and has probable cause
In United States criminal law, probable cause is the standard by which police authorities have reason to obtain a warrant for the arrest of a suspected criminal or the issuing of a search warrant. There is no universally accepted definition or ...
to arrest the person for suspicion of driving under the influence, the arrestee will be asked to take an alcohol breath test or a blood test. It is important to note that the driver cannot "pass" or "fail" a field sobriety test as they are not "pass-or-fail", they are only meant to aid the officer in determining if a suspect is impaired based on observations of the subject's performance on these tests. There are various guidelines are presented by the various states (US) as well as International rules for these type Sobriety Checkpoints or DUI. For example, in the U.S. Field sobriety tests (FSTs or SFSTs) are voluntary.[Law Talk: Should drivers refuse road-side drunk tests?](_blank)
Michigan Live
While the Fourth Amendment (1791) protects people against unreasonable searches and seizures
Search and seizure is a procedure used in many civil law and common law legal systems by which police or other authorities and their agents, who, suspecting that a crime has been committed, commence a search of a person's property and confiscat ...
of either self or property
Property is a system of rights that gives people legal control of valuable things, and also refers to the valuable things themselves. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property may have the right to consume, alter, share, r ...
by government officials, the use by police of sobriety checkpoints in the US is not prohibited by the Fourth Amendment. Some states such as Washington state
Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washingto ...
have determined that sobriety checkpoints are unconstitutional under state law. Law enforcement often posts or announces in advance that these checkpoints will occur and at what location. Law enforcement agencies often post a sign during the weekdays when it is only seen by local residents and not by those attending a special event or those that only travel in that area of the city during the weekend to patronize local bars and clubs. These announcements are also sometimes printed in newspapers. Numerous websites host a database of checkpoints that are to occur based on information found in newspapers, the Internet and tips from visitors of such sites. In the 2010s, there are smartphone apps that allow users to report sobriety checkpoints, show them on a map and use the device's GPS to alert other drivers when a sobriety checkpoint is nearby.
Sobriety checkpoints regularly catch much more than just drunk drivers, as those selected to participate in the checkpoint are asked to provide their driver's licenses. As part of the standard protocol, the person's name and identifying information is run through the National Crime Information Center
The National Crime Information Center (NCIC) is the United States' central database for tracking crime-related information. The NCIC has been an information sharing tool since 1967. It is maintained by the Criminal Justice Information Services ...
database, or NCIC, for wants and warrants. If the driver has an outstanding warrant, he/she will likely be arrested. If he/she was driving without a valid license, he/she will likely be cited for driving with a suspended or revoked license. The identity checks could also catch vehicle inspection and registration violations as well. When an individual is stopped for a sobriety check, the officer may also determine that they have probable cause
In United States criminal law, probable cause is the standard by which police authorities have reason to obtain a warrant for the arrest of a suspected criminal or the issuing of a search warrant. There is no universally accepted definition or ...
to search the vehicle, which may lead to the officer finding illegal drugs or weapons.
Australia
In Australia, drivers may be stopped at any point along any public road by a police officer for what police term a "random breath test", commonly referred to as an "RBT". For an operation involving a large number of police (typically 10–20) at a fixed location, the colloquial term "booze bus" is often used.
In July 1976, legislation allowing Random Breath Testing (RBT) came into force in the State of Victoria, with
this being the first State in Australia to introduce such. New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
began its own large RBT road safety campaign in 1982. Since then, fatal crashes involving alcohol have dropped from about 40 per cent of all fatalities to the 2012 level of 15 per cent. Police conduct about 5 million breath tests each year in NSW with every police car in the State able to conduct mobile RBT.
In all states, the maximum blood alcohol content
Blood alcohol content (BAC), also called blood alcohol concentration or blood alcohol level, is a measurement of alcohol intoxication used for legal or medical purposes; it is expressed as mass of alcohol per volume or mass of blood. For example ...
of 0.05% is enforced. Drivers who are found to have a preliminary reading of equal to or greater than 0.05% are usually arrested and taken to the police station or RBT/"booze bus" to undertake a breath analysis. The machine used to perform a breath analysis is more sophisticated than the portable device that is used to administer a roadside RBT with the results of a breath analysis being used as evidence in court to prove a drunk driving charge.
In all states and territories the concept has been extended to make sobriety checkpoints also use "Random Drug Test (RDT) buses" (or "dual buses"), capable of testing drivers for a number of illicit drugs including cannabis
''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: '' Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternativel ...
(tetrahydrocannabinol), methamphetamine
Methamphetamine (contracted from ) is a potent central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is mainly used as a recreational drug and less commonly as a second-line treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and obesity. Meth ...
, and ecstasy
Ecstasy may refer to:
* Ecstasy (emotion), a trance or trance-like state in which a person transcends normal consciousness
* Religious ecstasy, a state of consciousness, visions or absolute euphoria
* Ecstasy (philosophy), to be or stand outside o ...
(MDMA).
RBT activities even feature on a popular Australian reality television series known by the same name, RBT (TV series).
As of late 2017 the NSW Police Force has announced it is going to expand its mobile drug testing to include cocaine in 2018. Trials of the program will be in Sydney's eastern suburbs.
Drunk driving continues to be one of the main causes of road fatalities and injuries, responsible for 30 percent of road fatalities across Australia.
Canada
In Ontario, Canada, sobriety checkpoints are referred to as Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere
Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere or RIDE is a sobriety testing program used by police in Ontario, Canada. The program began in 1977 as Reduce Impaired Driving in Etobicoke and the success of the program led to the expansion across the province ...
, commonly referred to as RIDE. In Alberta and Manitoba they are referred to as Check Stop
Check or cheque, may refer to:
Places
* Check, Virginia
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Check'' (film), a 2021 Indian Telugu-language film
* ''The Checks'' (episode), a 1996 TV episode of ''Seinfeld''
Games and sports
* Check (chess), a thr ...
, and in British Columbia, they are known as Drinking Driving Counterattack
Drinking is the act of ingesting water or other liquids into the body through the mouth, proboscis, or elsewhere. Humans drink by swallowing, completed by peristalsis in the esophagus. The physiological processes of drinking vary widely amon ...
.
United States
Legality
The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution states that: “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” This fundamental right has a tense relationship with sobriety checkpoints. At a sobriety checkpoint, drivers are necessarily stopped without reasonable suspicion
Reasonable suspicion is a legal standard of proof in United States law that is less than probable cause, the legal standard for arrests and warrants, but more than an "inchoate and unparticularized suspicion or 'hunch; it must be based on "specif ...
, and may be asked to be tested summarily and without probable cause
In United States criminal law, probable cause is the standard by which police authorities have reason to obtain a warrant for the arrest of a suspected criminal or the issuing of a search warrant. There is no universally accepted definition or ...
. Thus the Constitution would prohibit people from being stopped without a search warrant
A search warrant is a court order that a magistrate or judge issues to authorize law enforcement officers to conduct a search of a person, location, or vehicle for evidence of a crime and to confiscate any evidence they find. In most countr ...
or at least without reasonable suspicion that they have committed a crime; however, the warrant requirement only attaches should the search be unreasonable and the US Supreme Court, as shown below, decided that such stops are not unreasonable under certain circumstances.
Driving under the Influence
Driving under the influence (DUI)—also called driving while impaired, impaired driving, driving while intoxicated (DWI), drunk driving, operating while intoxicated (OWI), operating under the influence (OUI), operating vehicle under the infl ...
of alcohol, or Drunk Driving
Drunk driving (or drink-driving in British English) is the act of driving under the influence of alcohol. A small increase in the blood alcohol content increases the relative risk of a motor vehicle crash.
In the United States, alcohol is ...
, is a special type of crime, as driving with a blood alcohol content
Blood alcohol content (BAC), also called blood alcohol concentration or blood alcohol level, is a measurement of alcohol intoxication used for legal or medical purposes; it is expressed as mass of alcohol per volume or mass of blood. For example ...
(BAC) over a set limit is defined as the crime; it is not necessary to drive recklessly or cause an accident in order to be convicted (although an impaired driver who also drives recklessly could face additional charges). To determine BAC accurately, it is generally necessary for the driver to subject himself to tests that are self incriminating, and drivers sometimes exercise their right against self incrimination to refuse these tests. To discourage this, some jurisdictions set the legal penalties for refusing a BAC test to equal or worse than those for failing a BAC test. In other jurisdictions, the legal system may consider refusing the roadside alcohol breath test to be probable cause, allowing police to arrest the driver and conduct an involuntary BAC test.
The Michigan Supreme Court
The Michigan Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is Michigan's court of last resort and consists of seven justices. The Court is located in the Michigan Hall of Justice at 925 Ottawa Street in Lansing, the st ...
found sobriety roadblocks to be a violation of the Fourth Amendment. However, by a 6–3 decision in '' Michigan Dept. of State Police v. Sitz'' (1990), the United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point ...
found properly conducted sobriety checkpoints to be constitutional.
In the majority opinion, Chief Justice Rehnquist wrote, "In sum, the balance of the State's interest in preventing drunken driving, the extent to which this system can reasonably be said to advance that interest, and the degree of intrusion upon individual motorists who are briefly stopped, weighs in favor of the state program. We therefore hold that it is consistent with the Fourth Amendment." Dissenting justices argued against this conclusion. Justice Stevens
John Paul Stevens (April 20, 1920 – July 16, 2019) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1975 to 2010. At the time of his retirement, he was the second-oldes ...
argued that the checkpoints were not reasonably effective, writing that "the findings of the trial court, based on an extensive record and affirmed by the Michigan Court of Appeals, indicate that the net effect of sobriety checkpoints on traffic safety is infinitesimal and possibly negative." Justice Brennan's dissenting opinion argued that the police had failed to show that the checkpoint seizures were a necessary tool and worth the intrusion on individual privacy. "That stopping every car might make it easier to prevent drunken driving...is an insufficient justification for abandoning the requirement of individualized suspicion," he stated.
Jurisdictions that allow sobriety checkpoints often carve out specific exceptions to their normal civil protections, in order to allow sobriety checkpoints. Although the U.S. Supreme Court has found sobriety checkpoints to be constitutionally permissible, ten states (Idaho
Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and W ...
, Iowa
Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...
, Michigan
Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...
, Minnesota
Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the List of U.S. states and territories by population, 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minne ...
, Oregon
Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idah ...
, Rhode Island
Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but i ...
, Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
, Washington, Wisconsin
Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
, and Wyoming
Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the sou ...
) have found that sobriety roadblocks violate their own state constitutions or have outlawed them. One other state (Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S ...
) does not use checkpoints even though it has not made them illegal. Montana uses checkpoints frequently. Some states combine their efforts in setting up sobriety checkpoint initiatives, such as Checkpoint Strikeforce, jointly run by Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography an ...
, Washington, D.C., Delaware
Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacen ...
, West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the ...
, and Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; ...
.
In California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...
, shortly after a 1984 California Attorney General's Opinion (67 Ops Atty. Gen. 471 (1984, #84-902)), which set out what were intended to be "strict guidelines" for the legality of drunk driving roadblocks, police departments and the California Highway Patrol
The California Highway Patrol (CHP) is a state law enforcement agency of the U.S. state of California. The CHP has primary patrol jurisdiction over all California highways and roads and streets outside city limits, and can exercise law enfor ...
(CHP) began using DUI checkpoints to apprehend drunk drivers in the State of California. In ''Ingersoll v. Palmer'' (1987) 43 Cal.3d 1321, the California Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of California is the highest and final court of appeals in the courts of the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in San Francisco at the Earl Warren Building, but it regularly holds sessions in Los Angeles and Sacra ...
approved the use of roadblocks so long as they were carried out pursuant to the "strict guidelines" set forth by the Ingersoll Court and were operated in a manner consistent with the Federal and state Constitutions.
Aside for cases of sobriety checkpoints
A random checkpoint is a military and police tactic. In a military context, checkpoints involve the setup of a hasty roadblock by mobile truck- or armored vehicle-mounted infantry to disrupt unauthorized or unwanted movement or military activit ...
, border security
Border control refers to measures taken by governments to monitor and regulate the movement of people, animals, and goods across land, air, and maritime borders. While border control is typically associated with international borders, it ...
(at points of entry into the United States) and fugitive apprehension, roadblocks or checkpoints for the purpose of general law enforcement are expressly unconstitutional according to '' City of Indianapolis v. Edmond'', "Because the checkpoint program's primary purpose is indistinguishable from the general interest in crime control, the checkpoints violate the Fourth Amendment." This prohibits checkpoints erected to interdict narcotics or detect evidence of other illegal activities. However, this does not prevent police departments from attempting these types of checkpoints because they can be a significant source of revenue, particularly near festival periods like college spring break. Many individuals that are apprehended for possession of narcotics at these checkpoints are unlikely to be fully prosecuted on those charges, but the police will collect all fees associated with the arrest before reducing the charges or dismissing them altogether.
Because of some inconsistencies between the laws and actual police practice, some individuals maintain that DUI checkpoints are violation of civil rights under the Constitution. Such checkpoints have been the subject of protests, such as individuals holding signs warning drivers "Police ahead, turn now."
Legal guidelines
In approving "properly conducted" checkpoints, Chief Justice Rehnquist implicitly acknowledged that there must be guidelines in order to avoid having these checkpoints becoming overly intrusive. In other words, checkpoints cannot simply be set up when, where and how police officers choose. As often happens in Supreme Court decisions, however, the Chief Justice left it to the states to determine what those minimal safeguards must be, presumably to be reviewed by the courts on a case-by-case basis. To provide standards for use by the states, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA ) is an agency of the U.S. federal government, part of the Department of Transportation. It describes its mission as "Save lives, prevent injuries, reduce vehicle-related crashes" rel ...
subsequently issued a report that reviewed recommended checkpoint procedures in keeping with federal and state legal decisions.
An additional source of guidelines can be found in an earlier decision by the California Supreme Court, ''Ingersoll v. Palmer'' (1987) 43 Cal.3d 1321, wherein the California State Supreme Court set forth what it felt to be necessary standards in planning and administering a sobriety checkpoint.
The ''Ingersoll'' guidelines fall under the following general headings:
# Decision making at the supervisory level
# Limits on discretion of field officers
# Maintenance of safety conditions
# Reasonable location
# Time and duration
# Indicia of official nature of roadblock
# Length and nature of detention
# Advance publicity
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision of '' Michigan Dep’t of State Police v. Sitz'' (1990) 496 U.S. 444, was decided after ''Ingersoll''. The U.S. Supreme Court did not criticize any of the ''Ingersoll'' guidelines, nor did it recommend any others; seemingly making it the law of the land and leaving the decision of whether to permit sobriety checkpoints to the individual states. In ''People v. Banks'' (1993) 6 Cal.4th 926, which was decided after ''Ingersoll'' and ''Sitz'', and incorporated a discussion of both cases in the opinion, the California State Supreme Court held that ''advance publicity'' is not an essential element of the constitutionally of a valid drunk driving roadblock. The Court concluded that although advance publicity remains a factor to consider, the lack of it alone does not render the roadblock unconstitutional. ''People v. Banks'' (1993) 6 Cal.4th 926.
The following considerations expand upon the general headings listed above:
*Decision making must be at a supervisory level, rather than by officers in the field.
*A neutral formula must be used to select vehicles to be stopped, such as every vehicle or every third vehicle, rather than leaving it up to the officer in the field.
*Primary consideration must be given to public and officer safety.
*The site should be selected by policy-making officials, based upon areas having a high incidence of drunk driving.
*Limitations on when the checkpoint is to be conducted and for how long, bearing in mind both effectiveness and intrusiveness.
*Warning lights and signs should be clearly visible.
*Length of detention of motorists should be minimized.
*Advance publicity is necessary to reduce the intrusiveness of the checkpoint and increase its deterrent effect.
Effectiveness
There is a dearth of research regarding the deterrent effect of checkpoints. The only formally documented research regarding deterrence is a survey of Maryland's "Checkpoint Strikeforce" program. The survey found no deterrent effect: "To date, there is no evidence to indicate that this campaign, which involves a number of sobriety checkpoints and media activities to promote these efforts, has had any impact on public perceptions, driver behaviors, or alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes and injuries. This conclusion is drawn after examining statistics for alcohol-related crashes, police citations for impaired driving, and public perceptions of alcohol-impaired driving risk." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency, under the Department of Health and Human Services, and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georg ...
, in a 2002 Traffic Injury Prevention report, found that in general, the number of alcohol-related crashes was reduced by 20% in states that implement sobriety checkpoints compared to those that do not.
Public Health Law Research, an independent organization, reported in a 2009 evidence brief summarizing the research assessing the effect of a specific law or policy on public health, that there is strong evidence supporting the effectiveness of selective breath testing sobriety checkpoints as a public health intervention aimed at reducing the harms associated with alcohol impaired driving.
There is a debate regarding whether saturation patrols or checkpoints are more effective. The FBI did a study comparing saturation patrols vs. checkpoints in Ohio, Missouri, and Tennessee. The study showed that, “ erall, measured in arrests per hour, a dedicated saturation patrol is the most effective method of apprehending offenders.” Another survey found that "States with infrequent checkpoints claimed a lack of funding and police resources for not conducting more checkpoints." The survey found that some states "...preferred saturation patrols over checkpoints because they were more 'productive'", given that "... large number of police officers ere usedat checkpoints."
Controversy
In May 2015, a ''Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...
'' study found that between 2010 and 2014, a majority of sobriety checks in Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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were conducted in black
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...
and Latino neighborhoods, despite some white
White is the lightness, lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully diffuse reflection, reflect and scattering, scatter all the ...
neighborhoods ranking among those with the highest number of alcohol-related traffic accidents.
Fugitive roadblocks
Police also use hastily set up roadblocks to check cars and car trunks when they are pursuing an armed and dangerous fugitive, such as an escaped maximum security prisoner or a suspected armed robber
Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or by use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the per ...
or murderer who is believed to be fleeing from police. Police at such a checkpoint may be armed with shotguns, submachine guns or semiautomatic carbines, in addition to their duty sidearms, depending on the laws and regulations in a jurisdiction. When setting up these types of roadblocks, police in some jurisdiction have the authorization to lay a spike strip
A spike strip (spike belt, traffic spikes, tire shredders, stingers, stop sticks, Stinger or formally known as a tire deflation device) is a device or incident weapon used to impede or stop the movement of wheeled vehicles by puncturing their ti ...
across the road, to prevent suspects from trying to drive through the roadblock.
See also
* Civilian checkpoint
Civilian checkpoints or security checkpoints are distinguishable from border or frontier checkpoints in that they are erected and enforced within contiguous areas under military or paramilitary control. Civilian checkpoints have been employed ...
* Saturation patrol
*'' Redacted'', a war film which depicts US soldiers guarding a checkpoint in Iraq during the Iraq War
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق ( Kurdish)
, partof = the Iraq conflict and the War on terror
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References
{{Reflist, 2
Further reading
*Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Sobriety Checkpoints: Facts and Myths. Mothers Against Drunk Driving website, September 11, 2005..
*Ross, H. L. ''Confronting Drunk Driving''. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1992.
*Simpson, H. M., and Mayhew, D. R. ''The Hard Core Drinking Driver''. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Traffic Safety Research Foundation, 1991.
*Taylor, L. ''Drunk Driving Defense''. New York: Aspen Law and Business, 6th edition, 2006.
External links
Sobriety Checkpoints - It's a Sobering Thought!
(California Highway Patrol
The California Highway Patrol (CHP) is a state law enforcement agency of the U.S. state of California. The CHP has primary patrol jurisdiction over all California highways and roads and streets outside city limits, and can exercise law enfor ...
)
Best DWI & DUI Lawyer In Denver!
( Mastro Barnes & Stazzone, PC)
Military tactics
Law enforcement techniques
Checkpoints
Driving under the influence