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Why do people warn others about DUI Checkpoints
- Thread starter Armadilo
- Start date
The police setup a roadblock at which they stop and question and/or test every driver. Ostensibly for drunk driving but in reality that is a tiny percentage of what they get people for
I haven't seen one on a major highway before but they are pretty common on my towns main arteries
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Checkpoints are violations of several different instances of not only due process, but due cause.
The state should not be allowed to randomly funnel everyone in a random location, to search for any perceived or overt crimes. NOT only inebriation.
The police are supposed to need a valid reason to stop you (in theory, though because of shit like check points, this isn't really held to any regard).
The state should not be allowed to randomly funnel everyone in a random location, to search for any perceived or overt crimes. NOT only inebriation.
The police are supposed to need a valid reason to stop you (in theory, though because of shit like check points, this isn't really held to any regard).
In my area, I suppose the only thing close would be that at my local bar, a few cops would scope out the place and wait to see if a drunk person exits and leaves with their car. I've never seen a roadblock or checkpoint like people are describing.
If any of you can cite a source that establishes that DUI checkpoints are unconstitutional, I'd like to read it.
The first source I found says that they are constitutional, but it's a law firm website.
https://www.shouselaw.com/dui-checkpoint.html
Don't they use breathalyzers in the US when checking for DUIs? In Sweden that's the whole thing at a DUI check. They stop you and lets you blow the breathalyzer and if you're clear you drive on, otherwise you will have to go with the police for blood tests to confirm your blood alcohol level. The DUI checks are usually set up during the day so they can check a lot of people and get a nice statstitic on their amount of checks and at the same time avoid the hassle of having to detain people for blood tests.
I never said they were unconstitutional
I mean, they are, but I'm well aware that the SCOTUS has decreed otherwise
I only called their reasoning dubious
Eh. I'm not a pro-cop person. But DUI checkpoints are not on the list of things that bother me about the police.
User banned (2 weeks): inflammatory comparison
Anyone defending these bits of nonsense because of how much DUI is a terrible crime (which it is), would you agree that making child porn is at least as bad?
So, if you're okay with random cars being stopped for 'DUI', are you okay with random houses being entered and searched, 'to stop CP'?
They're terrible crimes, and random searches may just save someone. Are you okay with cops forcibly entering your house at any time to make sure no kids are being hurt (and also that you aren't doing anything else that may be considered wrong)?
I know that's an extreme example but the fundamental principle is the same -- you shouldn't ever be subject to a random search/examination without cause.
So, if you're okay with random cars being stopped for 'DUI', are you okay with random houses being entered and searched, 'to stop CP'?
They're terrible crimes, and random searches may just save someone. Are you okay with cops forcibly entering your house at any time to make sure no kids are being hurt (and also that you aren't doing anything else that may be considered wrong)?
I know that's an extreme example but the fundamental principle is the same -- you shouldn't ever be subject to a random search/examination without cause.
I'm not from the US so I don't know how these DUI checks works, but I don't see anything wrong with stopping someone who drives suspiciously for a breathalyzer test. It could change lives.
Obviously not a minority who "randomly" is pulled off to the side of the road for further investigation.
People do it here in Ireland too, though. Whenever there's a Garda checkpoint.
Ontario has R.I.D.E.
http://ridechecks.com/aboutus.html
Years ago, they were abundant in the GTA after dark.
The worst experiences with checkpoints I had were when I worked at an amusement park connected to a concert venue near me. I only had a 10 minute drive home but on concert nights I got stuck every fucking time, and the cops at those checkpoints were the worst. I'm wearing my work uniform still, have my parking pass for the employee lot, and I'm driving away from my work, yet 3 separate times they had me pull over to the side. And every employee wore specifically colored polo shirts so it wasn't a uniform that was easy to fake either.
very coincidental. some folks feel the same way about brown people!
Stop and frisk for your car
At best a huge waste of time, at worst a nice frame job where they "find" some weed in your car
I only warn people when I notice because no one wants to be held up for 20 to 30 minutes with those things
The reason they are legal is driving is not a right it's a privilege and the interest of public safety outweighs the inconvenience caused by a dui checkpoint. This was what the Supreme Court decided.
Having said that, I completely agree that it seems like that's not how it should be.
Having said that, I completely agree that it seems like that's not how it should be.
I avoid them and warn others tbh, I want as little interaction with the dirty ass police as possible
Exactly this. I don't drink at all but I sure as fuck want to avoid cops at all cost.
It's not about being under the influence it's about avoiding the cops. Although there are assholes out there that do it to not get caught.
I'd be more ok with these if the only thing they had the power to detain/arrest you for was a DUI.
Instead, it's just a money making power trip for one of your city's most powerful gangs.
Instead, it's just a money making power trip for one of your city's most powerful gangs.
OP
OP
I'm Mexican, my family is brown and my parents had a drinking problem as that was my childhood.
In the very white suburbs and rural areas around here, people will warn each other about R.I.D.E. Checks because they've all got enough prior DUI charges and don't want their buds to lose their licence.
Around here they've nicknamed those electric scooters, that you don't need a licence to drive, "DUIcycles".
Around here they've nicknamed those electric scooters, that you don't need a licence to drive, "DUIcycles".
but do you get the point? some people might benefit from the knowledge that there are a bunch of police "on the lookout" that may have nothing to do with drunk weekenders.
To begin with, I'll note that we have completely different context to police. Here in Finland they're not perfect either, but they are well educated and well, they don't kill minorities. Also, DUI check stops are quick as the police simply use a breathanalyzer and don't do any searches.
I understand the situation is vastly different in the USA so I can understand why people don't like these stops, but responding only to that comparison (and the idea that police shouldn't have any right to stop you for any reason at all unless they have specifically reason regarding you), holy shit it's indeed extreme and completely different. One takes like 20 seconds of your time and simply requires you to breathe into the thing. The other one would take far longer, would require multiple people digging through your house and would be a huge invasion of privacy in many ways.
Feel free to think the police shouldn't have the right to stop you like that, but don't come up with completely bullshit comparisons like that.
They are both the same thing at the basic level. Cops are pulling you over and detaining you with out probable cause of you having committing a crime . It goes agaisnt the very idea of the 4th amendment
That's always been jank reasoning. Your right to drive isn't being violated, it's your right to not be subject to search and seizure without probable cause that is. If I'm not doing anything wrong, cops don't get to search my car (which is what they're all doing at these checkpoints anyway).
No they are not at all the same thing. You absolutely have the right to privacy in your own home and cops need a warrant to search your home. On the road the state has a duty to enforce laws in the interest of public safety because driving is not a constitutional right, you pay an annual registration for that privilege to drive, and when you pay for it, you agree to terms the state makes which says you give up certain rights of privacy that do not apply to your home.
You are comparing apples and oranges
Again, there is no such thing as a right to drive, and they are not automatically searching your car. They stop you, check your ID to see if you are a licensed driver and are smelling for alcohol and/or drugs.
Driving a car isnt a constitutional righ but that have little to do with this. t you do have right to not be deatian when there is no probable cause for a stop. Just because you are in a car doesn't meant that your rights go out the window. And even then there are plenty of privacy right that you have with your cars any
I know. That's my point. The reasoning is a straw man. The problem isn't a supposed "right to drive."
Have you ever met a cop? They'll say a nun's breath smells like booze if they wanna search her car. And them peering around in it in the first place is no better than them peeping in your windows as far as I'm concerned.
My advice to everyone is to always avoid the cops. And never say anything to them. They exist to arrest people and impound your property. That's why I'll always warn people (and why every state should be like MD at least, where the cops are required to give public notice about all checkpoints).
This is exactly where I stand.
I'll warn my entire social media orbit if I encounter a checkpoint and wouldn't feel the least bit bad about it. Same goes for speed traps. I'm on those high beams warning other drivers for miles.
I have been asked to step out of my car and had my car searched for no reason at checkpoints twice, once by myself and once with friends. Nobody had been drinking, there were no substances in the car.