Labor Day Weekend DWI Checkpoint Fail

[TurboDan]

Holiday weekends. Sun, fun, family and friends ? and myriad DWI checkpoints to disrupt traffic.

As part of my job, my employer subscribes to a service that monitors all emergency communications and alerts us when something of note occurs. Evidently, the Toms River, NJ police department staged a DWI checkpoint at the base of a huge miles-long causeway bridge that leads from Seaside Heights, NJ (which is located on an island) to the mainland. The only problem: it sucks if you happen to have a heart attack, or something, on the other side of the bridge.

Read and cringe:

NJ| Ocean County| Toms River| *Traffic Alert*| New Jersey 37 west | Seaside heights PD reports traffic is backed up into their venue due to DUI check point in Toms river and EMS is having difficulty making it thru to hospital| <C> BNN | BNNDESK/njn503a/nj8cw | #527405

[dazzleman]

Nice.

[shp4man]

They had a bunch of checkpoints here, too. I'm real careful about that sort of thing.

[r0tor]

I boycotted our township fair because of their dui checkpoint... basically the fire department sells beer inside the fair as a fundraiser, and the cops setup a dui checkpoint outside of it as a fundraiser.

Last year it took 45 minutes to get the 1.5 miles to my house.

[FlatBlackCaddy]

I boycotted our township fair because of their dui checkpoint... basically the fire department sells beer inside the fair as a fundraiser, and the cops setup a dui checkpoint outside of it as a fundraiser.

Last year it took 45 minutes to get the 1.5 miles to my house.

you have to give them credit for being on the same page

[J86]

I liked nola's approach- publish where the checkpoints will be ahead of time

[Soup DeVille]

I liked nola's approach- publish where the checkpoints will be ahead of time

I actually think that's a reuqirement for most of these.

Not sure if that's the case in jersey though.

[bing_oh]

I actually think that's a reuqirement for most of these.

Not sure if that's the case in jersey though.

It's required under a court ruling.

[Soup DeVille]

It's required under a court ruling.

federal court?

[bing_oh]

federal court?

Think it was a USSC decision, but don't quote me on that.

I know we're required to post the dates, times, and locations of OVI checkpoints twice before they happen. Once is the day before, and once is like a week or a few days prior (don't remember exactly how long on that one...that's an admin thing, not an issue for a road cop like me).

[S204STi]

Fort Collins actually stopped doing these a few years ago.  Now they just cruise the main bar streets (there's like two of them) and nail people all night long.

[bing_oh]

Fort Collins actually stopped doing these a few years ago.  Now they just cruise the main bar streets (there's like two of them) and nail people all night long.

OVI checkpoints themselves are of limited usefulness, IMHO. Few drunks are stupid enough to actually drive through them. Most drunks are caught in the saturation patrols around the checkpoint when people avoid them. They're also good for PR, which does have its uses (the use of designated drivers is definitely increasing, and the PR surrounding drunk driving enforcement and advocating DD's probably has something to do with that). Anything to decrease the number of drunk drivers and get those who do drink and drive off the street is a good thing...OVI is one of those things that's tough to argue as anything but a serious safety hazard.

Obviously, we catch alot more drunks on normal weekend patrols the other 51 weeks of the year than the one weekend we run a checkpoint.

[S204STi]

Exactly. And I suspect that was a big part of the change here.

Overall, the FoCo PD has a really solid image and relationship with the town, and I would bet the checkpoints were more of a source of complaint from the law-abiding citizens who were forced to roll through them than a useful enforcement tool.

[J86]

Brief (VERY brief) research shows a SCOTUS case upholding dui checkpoints generally but mostly leaving it up to the states to make the rules, and those states that permit checkpoints (the majority) generally have some sort of publication rule.

[bing_oh]

Brief (VERY brief) research shows a SCOTUS case upholding dui checkpoints generally but mostly leaving it up to the states to make the rules, and those states that permit checkpoints (the majority) generally have some sort of publication rule.

I knew there was a USSC decision validating DUI checkpoints but I wasn't sure if the publication guidelines were part of the ruling or left up to the states' discretion.

[TurboDan]

I actually think that's a reuqirement for most of these.

Not sure if that's the case in jersey though.

Something I wrote in a different forum a while back when this topic came up:

By law in New Jersey, authorities must announce the general calendar period during which checkpoints will be held, though they are not required to announce the exact locations and dates/times. The case effectively legalizing DWI checkpoints in New Jersey is State v. Kirk, 202 N.J. Super. 40, 41 (1985).

The Appellate Division held that checkpoints must be "carefully targeted to a designated area at a specified time and place based on data justifying the site selection for reasons of public safety and reasonably efficacious or productive law enforcement goals."

But the decision does NOT mandate that the specific time and place must be publicly disclosed or announced.

The section of the ruling on disclosure holds that: "advance general publicity designed to deter drunken drivers from getting in cars in the first place" is a requirement, however there are no requirements to publicize the exact roadway, date or time at which the checkpoint is to be held.

In NJ, these things are all organized by a county DWI task force. Some counties DO release the exact times/locations and some do not. Mine does not.

[sparkplug]

one drunk say to his worst enemy also a drunk.. Be at this point at this time and date for a free ride..