Random checkpoint
A random checkpoint is a
Military use
The unit establishing a military checkpoint must carry or obtain the materials necessary to construct it. It might use a large
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 may be confiscated.[3] A random checkpoint must be functional within 15 minutes of the unit's arrival on-site, and establish security teams 50–100 meters on both sides of the area to be controlled. Advanced observation posts may also be positioned further out if desired.[3] When large geographical areas need to be monitored, some types of checkpoint may be quickly airlifted by helicopter from one location to another.[4]
Flying roadblocks and checkpoints are usually established for no more than a few hours, in order to decrease the possibility of insurgent attacks on them, as well as to maintain their effectiveness as a surprising, unexpected obstacle.[5]
Random checkpoints are a common tactic used by many military forces, and have been recently used by
Sobriety checkpoints
Sobriety checkpoints or roadblocks involve law enforcement officials stopping every vehicle (or more typically, every nth vehicle) on a public roadway and investigating the possibility that the driver might be too
With a portable and quick breathalyzer 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. 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 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 outlined by jurisdictional and international law for sobriety checkpoints;[citation needed] for example, in the U.S., field sobriety tests are voluntary.[8]
In the United States, while the
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 database, or NCIC, for wants and warrants. If the driver has an outstanding warrant, they will likely be arrested. If they were driving without a valid license, they 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 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".[10] 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.[11] New South Wales 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.[12]
In all states, the maximum blood alcohol content of 0.05% is enforced.[13] 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.[citation needed]
In all states and territories[14] 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 (tetrahydrocannabinol), methamphetamine, and ecstasy (MDMA).[15]
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.[citation needed] Drunk driving continues to be one of the main causes of road fatalities and injuries, responsible for 30 percent of road fatalities across Australia.[citation needed]
Canada
In Ontario, Canada, sobriety checkpoints are referred to as Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere, commonly referred to as RIDE. In Alberta and Manitoba they are referred to as Check Stop, and in British Columbia, they are known as Drinking Driving Counterattack.
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, and may be asked to be tested summarily and without probable cause. Thus the Constitution would prohibit people from being stopped without a search warrant 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 U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that such stops are not unreasonable under certain circumstances.
The
Jurisdictions often create specific exceptions to their normal
In
Aside for cases of sobriety checkpoints, border security (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 who 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 a 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."[19]
Legal guidelines
In approving "properly conducted" checkpoints, Chief Justice Rehnquist implicitly acknowledged that there must be guidelines in order to prevent such checkpoints from becoming overly intrusive. In other words, checkpoints cannot simply be arranged when, where and how police officers choose to do so. 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 subsequently issued a report that reviewed recommended checkpoint procedures in keeping with federal and state legal decisions.[20]
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,[21] 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 was decided after Ingersoll. The 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 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.[22]
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
This section's factual accuracy is disputed. (March 2014) |
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."[23] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 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.[24][25]
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 to reducing the harms associated with alcohol-impaired driving.[26]
There is a debate regarding whether
Controversy
In May 2015, a
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
See also
- Civilian checkpoint
- Outpost
- Saturation patrol
- Redacted, a war film which depicts US soldiers guarding a checkpoint in Iraq during the Iraq War
References
- ^ "Checkpoints". GlobalSecurity.org. Retrieved 5 December 2007.
- ^ a b UN Checkpoint operations[permanent dead link]
- ^ a b Guide to Military Operations Other Than War: Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures for Stability & Support Operations, Keith Earle Bonn, Anthony E. Baker, pp.113–115
- ^ Afghan Allies Hunt Assassins CNN, July 8, 2002
- ^ John Pike. "FMI 3-07.22 Appendix C Population and Resources Control". globalsecurity.org.
- ISBN 9780833042477.
- ^ "Tactics, Techniques and Procedures in Operations Other than War". GlobalSecurity.org. Retrieved 2007-05-29.
- ^ Law Talk: Should drivers refuse road-side drunk tests?, Michigan Live
- ^ Monk, Linda. "Amendment IV". Annenberg Classroom. Leonore Annenberg Institute for Civics of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. Archived from the original on May 31, 2013. Retrieved August 6, 2014.
- ^ NSW Centre for road safety NSW.gov.au Archived 2009-10-23 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "ICADTS - Home" (PDF).
- ^ "Random breath testing - Alcohol and driving - Alcohol and other drugs - Staying safe - NSW Centre for Road Safety". 19 August 2014.
- ^ Australian Federal Police AFP.gov.au Archived 2009-10-18 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Baldock, M. R. J.; Woolley, J. E. "Reviews of the effectiveness of random drug testing in Australia: The absence of crash-based evaluations" Centre for Automotive Safety Research, University of Adelaide. Proceedings of the 2013 Australasian Road Safety Research, Policing & Education Conference 28th – 30th August, Brisbane, Queensland
- ^ Webster, Natalie. "Victoria Police - Full dual bus contingent launched". Media release, 7 December 2007. Retrieved 30 December 2017
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-01-02. Retrieved 2011-02-15.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-10-29. Retrieved 2013-05-29.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Governor McDonnell Highlights 2013 Checkpoint Strikeforce Campaign". virginia.gov. Archived from the original on 15 December 2013. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
- ^ "2 OVI arrests made at checkpoint in Dayton". WHIO-TV. May 29, 2015. Retrieved May 30, 2015.
- ^ "The Use of Sobriety Checkpoints for Impaired Driving Enforcement", DOT HS-807-656, Nov. 1990
- ^ "Ingersoll v. Palmer - 43 Cal.3d 1321 - Thu, 10/29/1987 | California Supreme Court Resources". scocal.stanford.edu. Retrieved 2016-03-03.
- ^ "People v. Banks - 6 Cal.4th 926 S030479 - Thu, 12/23/1993 | California Supreme Court Resources". scocal.stanford.edu. Retrieved 2016-03-03.
- ^ Beck, Kenneth, 2009. Lessons Learned From Evaluating Maryland's Anti-Drunk Driving Campaign: Assessing the Evidence for Cognitive, Behavioral, and Public Health Impact. Health Promotion Practice, 10: 370-377.
- ^ "Research Update: Sobriety Checkpoints Are Effective in Reducing Alcohol-Related Crashes". Archived from the original on 2014-01-14. Retrieved 2014-01-13.
- ^ contra, see Safety Study - Deterrence of Drunk Driving, The Role of Sobriety Checkpoints and Admin. Lic. Revocations, NTIS PB84-917001, 3-Apr-1984
- ^ Selective Breath Testing Sobriety Checkpoints Archived 2011-05-15 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Greene, Jeffrey W., 2003. Battling DUI: A Comparative Analysis of Checkpoints and Saturation Patrols. FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, 72: 1-6.
- ^ Fell, J.C., Ferguson, S.A., Williams, A.F., 2003. Why are sobriety checkpoints not widely adopted as an enforcement strategy in the United States? Accident Analysis and Prevention, 35: 897-902.
- ^ Byrne, John (11 May 2015). "Emanuel mum on Chicago police DUI checkpoints in minority areas". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
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.