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7 drunks caught at DUI checkpoints in Hilliard


Casper

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http://www2.nbc4i.com/news/2011/mar/17/2/franklin-co-dui-checkpoints-announced-ar-426280/

Total vehicles in the zone(s): 1188

Total vehicles checked: 727

Total vehicles diverted: 64

DUI arrests: 7

Total number of citations issued: 30

- Driver license violations: 20

- Other citations issued: 3

Traffic warnings issued: 34

Vehicles impounded: 13

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Too bad they don't include how much it cost to run a checkpoint. I'd like to see if it was worth it.

Would you pay $20/drunk to get them off the road? I'd say that's probably effective use of taxpayer money, but if it's $2000/drunk... then it starts getting gray.

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Someone associated with Lucky's Bar & Grill must have pissed off the po po. They had a checkpoint set-up less than a quarter mile south of thier location in Marysville yesterday. Checks points near both locations, good for business.....

Edited by cmh_sprint
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just a matter of time before these are declared unconstitutional. Live it up while you can police depts!!! assumption of guilt much?

I don't know about that. To play devil's advocate...

You don't like DUI checkpoints, don't travel on the City's (or state's) roads.

Driving is not a right, it's a privilege which can be revoked. They can also place conditions on you that you must accept in order to procure a drivers license. Submitting to a brethalizer is one such condition. Why should stopping at a check point be any different?

(again, I'm not saying I agree with that stance, but it's not an irrelevant argument).

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I don't know about that. To play devil's advocate...

You don't like DUI checkpoints, don't travel on the City's (or state's) roads.

Driving is not a right, it's a privilege which can be revoked. They can also place conditions on you that you must accept in order to procure a drivers license. Submitting to a brethalizer is one such condition. Why should stopping at a check point be any different?

(again, I'm not saying I agree with that stance, but it's not an irrelevant argument).

Illegal search and seizure. It's been ruled that a police officer may not pull you over without probable cause. If you're swerving, he/she has probable cause to believe you've been drinking. You can't be randomly targeted for an illegal search. It's no different than walking down the street and being asked randomly to empty your pockets, or random searches of your home. Just my two cents.

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Too bad they don't include how much it cost to run a checkpoint. I'd like to see if it was worth it.

Would you pay $20/drunk to get them off the road? I'd say that's probably effective use of taxpayer money, but if it's $2000/drunk... then it starts getting gray.

It's easy to put a number on it when it doesn't hit close to home. I'm sure there are plenty of people who would pay much more than that to get a loved one back.

I think checkpoints are great, in fact I'd say we get a better bang for our buck with them. An officer can check a much larger number of people much quicker than driving around all night looking for someone swerving.

I've been through a couple checks and they don't bother me a bit. Is your paperwork in order? Have nothing to hide? Sober? You barely even have to stop.

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If you're swerving, he/she has probable cause to believe you've been drinking.

Since this lacks specificity, the 'probable cause' wording is ripe for subjectivity. Anything that's a subjective measure is an open invitation / loophole to violate your 4th Amendment rights.

So you're correct, but try and stop them from pulling you over for "weaving" when you weren't. Your word vs. theirs.

It's easy to put a number on it when it doesn't hit close to home. I'm sure there are plenty of people who would pay much more than that to get a loved one back.

I agree, but everything has a cost associated with it, and as a society we have to determine if we should bear that cost as an extension of our government branches.

Callous as it is, putting the emotions aside, it's a cost-benefit analysis - just not all the costs are tangible.

Edited by JRMMiii
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Driving is not a right, it's a privilege which can be revoked. They can also place conditions on you that you must accept in order to procure a drivers license. Submitting to a brethalizer is one such condition. Why should stopping at a check point be any different

I don't think it's a privilege at all . If it where a privilege I should have the option To not drive and have all my tax money that goes to roads ,upkeep and

Policing returned to me

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As per Ohio law, the check points were announced earlier that day. Anyone not wishing to be "inconvenienced" by the check points should have considered an alternate route. A well informed, sober driver would have avoided a check point.

Sobriety checkpoints set for Hilliard area tonight

Thursday, March 17, 2011 11:23 AM

The Columbus Dispatch

Two sobriety checkpoints will be set up tonight in the Hilliard area.

The Franklin County DUI Task Force will be checking drivers on Cemetery Road east of Leap Road. The Columbus Division of Police will be doing the same on Hilliard-Rome Road south of Roberts Road.

The checkpoints are scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. and to continue until about 3 a.m.

The Task Force reminds people who will be drinking alcohol to arrange for a ride home with someone who has not been drinking.

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So what happens at a check point? Do they randomly choose people for the sobriety test?

Not that I am aware of, you pull up to the checkpoint and hand over your license, registration, and proof of insurance. If your good and nothing appears to be suspicous, then you keep on going.

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Illegal search and seizure. It's been ruled that a police officer may not pull you over without probable cause. If you're swerving, he/she has probable cause to believe you've been drinking. You can't be randomly targeted for an illegal search. It's no different than walking down the street and being asked randomly to empty your pockets, or random searches of your home. Just my two cents.

I think there's a difference between uncle sam busting into your home, or stopping you while you're simply walking versus stopping you during an activity that the gov't already licenses.

...at least that's the counter-argument.

You don't want to be stopped and searched, don't drive. Simple as that.

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Meh,I usually walk and/or ride the bus any time i plan on drinkinng in Columbus. A DUI would be the end of my current job and ruin any future career plans. I have to agree with skulls, you choose to get a government issued license, you signed theirpeice of paper stating everything they are allowed to do so STFU and get a DD or cab

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Meh,I usually walk and/or ride the bus any time i plan on drinkinng in Columbus. A DUI would be the end of my current job and ruin any future career plans. I have to agree with skulls, you choose to get a government issued license, you signed theirpeice of paper stating everything they are allowed to do so STFU and get a DD or cab

or save yourself some money and stay home or a friends house and drink. Plus then the liquor isn't watered down.

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The Right of the Citizen to travel upon the public highways and to transport his property thereon, either by horse drawn carriage or by automobile, is not a mere privilege which a city can prohibit or permit at will, but a common Right which he has under the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." - Thompson vs. Smith, 154 SE 579.

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"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." - Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution.

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Another look at the numbers...I'd like to point out the % of DUI arrests compared to the other infractions/citations made... 0.59% of total population arrested for DUI...a combined 1.94% for other infractions...So, what's this checkpoint about again????

Total vehicles in the zone(s) 1188

Total vehicles checked 727 61%

Total vehicles diverted 64

DUI arrests 7 0.59%

Total number of citations issued 30

- Driver license violations 20 1.68%

- Other citations issued 3 0.25%

Traffic warnings issued 34 2.86%

Vehicles impounded 13

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Two points:

1) If the police have to wait until a driver is so drunk that he or she is weaving all over the road or actually hit someone before they can be pulled over then that's a little bit like saying you cannot diagnose a cavity until the tooth falls out. While I accept that checkpoints smack of a police state, there has to be some middle ground.

2) There's nothing like getting hit head-on at 80mph to change your perspective on drunk driving. I prefer the British approach to punishing drunk drivers - 18 month suspension for a first offense.

I don't mind checkpoints as an intermin measure as long as they don't unduly slow down the public. There does need to be a more effective measure though. How about a steering wheel with electrical contacts (much like that heart rate sensor on a stairmaster) that can sense alcohol? Something built into the car that won't allow a drunk to drive it.

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