Two sobriety checkpoints -- the results
What's the best way to arrest drunk drivers?
Set up a police checkpoint, advertise its location in advance and warn approaching motorists so that they have plenty of time to seek an alternate route? Or put a bunch of police cars on the street and hunt down the drivers who've had too much to drink?
Logic, I think, would tell you the latter (the strategies are a continuous topic of debate within law enforcement). But two recent sobriety checkpoints in Howard and Anne Arundel counties proved that logic wrong. In both cases, police made no more DUI arrests on patrol than they did at the checkpoints.
The police in Arundel had their checkpoint set up late Friday and early Saturday on Muddy Creek Road in Deale. Their counterparts in Howard set up a checkpoint Thursday night and early Friday on Route 175 in Columbia.
Howard made six DUI arrests at the checkpoint and two on patrol. Arundel played it down the middle, with two DUI arrests at the checkpoint and two on patrol.
That seems odd to me because the law requires police to notify the public about a checkpoint ahead of time -- Arundel publicizes the location, Howard does not -- and drivers must have advanced warning as they approach the roadblock so they can legally turn around or take another road to avoid having to stop. Cpl. C. R. Dalton of the Anne Arundel Police said drivers aren't even legally required to roll down their windows at a checkpoint.
Seems to defeat the purpose of the whole exercise. Yet many people allegedly impaired by alcohol still choose to drive through a phalanx of police. I'd love to hear from people arrested at a checkoint to find out why they didn't just turn around.
Police say the answer is simple. "People just don't realize the effect alcohol has on them," said Sgt. Frederick von Briesen, head of the Howard County Police Traffic Enforcement Section.
Drew Cochran, a defense attorney whose firm has an Internet site to help people arrested on DUI charges, said few people understand their rights. He said officers at checkpoints hand people phamplets, enticing them to roll down their windows when they don't have to. "It takes a lot of courage to not roll your window down," he said.
He also noted something I observed in Arundel: when a car does turn around before reaching the checkpoint, officers follow it and pull the driver over when an infraction occurrs. Cochran called the checkpoints "a scam."
What do you think? And which strategy works better? The checkpoints or the patrols?
Meanwhile, here's the score card from the two agencies:
Anne Arundel County police DUI checkpoint and patrols Friday and Saturday on Muddy Creek Road:
Police said 303 vehicles went through the checkpoint and officers arrested two drivers suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol. Officers on patrol stopped 77 vehicles, wrote 31 citations, 53 warnings and 12 equipment repair orders. They also made two drug arrets.
Howard County police DUI checkpoint on Route 175 in Columbia Thursday and Friday:
Police said about 600 vehicles went through the checkpoint and officers arrested six drivers suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol. Patrol officers arrested two others on DUI charges.
Comments
1. First of all, nobody calls Anne Arundel County "Arundel" besides The Baltimore Sun. I don't know why you do this, but it makes you appear out of touch. Call it by its name, or say AA county.
2. If they really wanted to stop drunk driving, they would set up sobriety check points every Friday and Saturday night on the outbound roads of heavy drinking areas (i.e. Downtown Annapolis). They don't, however; most likely because restaurant owners won't stand for it.
Posted by: John Hewards | August 26, 2008 12:29 AM
A friend of mine recently went through a checkpoint in Bethesda after we went to a comedy show. He turn around because:
1) He was stuck in the backup of cars (3 lanes down to 1
2) He had 3 beers over the 3-hour event, and felt fine.
Turns out, he didn't have the required .08 for a DUI, but a .07 - worthy of going to the police station, having the car impounded, and then released a few hours later with a citation (much like a traffic ticket) and a $200 impound bill.
I think a good solution to the drunk driving problem is education. Bars/restaurants will serve you drink after drink, and then it's up to you to magically guess your own BAC (which Officer von Briesen pointed out is hard to do if you're under the influence). In my friend's case, he tried to be responsible with the old "one beer per hour" adage. But that method is flawed due to variance in ABV levels of different beers, the absorbtion rate of the body, etc.
Why not have breathalyzers available at the bar, BEFORE people get behind the wheel and find out the hard way. It could be a county-sponsored program, or make it a stipulation for any place with an on-site consumption liquor license.
It won't stop everyone: some people will always be irresponsible. But it will take out the impaired guesswork for those trying to stay legal AND have a good time. It will no longer be the late night question of "Am I good to drive? Well, I feel fine." Instead, it will be "I blew a .09. I feel fine, but if I get pulled over, I'm screwed. Is it worth the risk?"
Posted by: Lee | August 27, 2008 8:43 AM
Interesting. I did not know that one is not required to stop -- or even roll down their window. I do not drink and therefore have nothing to worry about, but it is still a good tidbit of information to share with others.
If you are legally allowed to turn around, police should not follow you because you exercised your right to do so. To me, it sounds like it could be an additional definition for "profiling."
I have been through one check point and because I was around 20 at the time, the cop wanted to play 1,001 questions and gave me the impression he did believe I was out driving for the reason I stated.
While slowly driving up to him, he did the "roll down your window" motion with his hand. I am going to listen to a police officer's orders and he should not motion for me to roll down my window if I am not required to roll down my window.
I've always questioned the giant highway signs and newspaper articles warning of future checkpoints. This post shed light on why they are publicized.
Posted by: Jesse | August 29, 2008 3:29 PM
where can i find a list of upcoming checkpoints?
Posted by: mike archer | August 30, 2008 6:07 PM
Thanks for the question. Local departments don't provide a list. They typically alert the media a few days ahead of time and sometimes post it on their web sites. I'd keep checking newspapers and the department's themselves. There is a list of web sites for local police agencies on this site -- Peter Hermann
Posted by: Peter Hermann | September 2, 2008 7:56 AM