From Maryland State Police:
The first annual “Janet Hardy Memorial Checkpoint” this past weekend in an effort to combat impaired driving in Harford County was a successful Maryland State Police initiative.
Although weather conditions were wet, snowy, and cold, the checkpoint was a success. Four individuals were arrested. Two drivers were charged with D.U.I. offenses and two other drivers were charged with drug violations. Twenty-five capsules of heroin were recovered from the vehicle of one of the suspects charged with a drug violation. A total of 124 vehicles traveled through the checkpoint.
Troopers from the JFK Memorial Highway Barrack conducted the first annual “Janet Hardy Memorial” DUI checkpoint on Friday, February 15, 2013, on southbound U.S Route 1 in Harford County just south of the Cecil/Harford County lines and just north of where Janet Hardy was killed by an intoxicated driver in 2003. This checkpoint was a community effort to combat impaired driving in Harford County.
DUI checkpoints have proven to be a useful strategy in reducing the number of victims injured or killed in crashes involving impaired drivers. Troopers from JFK Barrack made 582 arrests for driving under the influence in 2012, making them the highest producing barrack in the state.
Are the names of those arrested and charged available?
It would be good for everyone to know how much this cost. How many personal? How many vehicles? This is a lot of money spent for a feel good fishing trip. Dollar for dollar, it’s been proven that more results come from a well trained officer vigilantly patrolling. Was there a specialized checkpoint testing vehicle? That’s $100,000.00 alone.
Tax payer,
$100,000.00 ??? really??? Which government agency do you work for to speculate such a cost?? 😉
I know the troopers involved and I can assure you you are at least 100x’s off the cost for said event. As a lawful citizen who would not want to experience the tragedy of losing my 17 yo daughter to a stupid drunk who decided he was above the law, I fully support these type of actions. Would you rather have a drunk stopped before slamming his car into your child??
Steve,
A “BAT van” does indeed cost 100k. You can go look up the price yourself if you like. Several cases have also come to light on the inconsistent results that an Intoxilyzer produces when operated from a mobile lab. How many of the personnel were on overtime? Seems like we should get both sides of the story.
Where does it say there was a “BAT van” or mobile lab? Harford County doesn’t have one. Officers that night took their arrests to their respective stations for processing.
This was an MSP operation. Look up how many BAT vans they have. While you’re at it look up the GIANT Winnebago that they own that isn’t even street legal. This is all a grab for federal funds. Call it what it is.
Yes but assuming a BAT van costs that we would assume they also use it more than once so the cost for the van should not be chalked up to one point. I would hope check-points are done many times over. In fact I know they are.
@Steve says – I don’t think anyone in their right mind is suggesting that anyone would want to lose a loved one under any circumstances, least of all these. However, having spent plenty of time in 3rd world sewers and dealing with roadblocks, checkpoints, intimidation, etc., I have grown to despise the tactic. Look at the number of arrests by the JFK barracks – 582. How many cars travelled Harford County Roads in that year – more than 1 million, 2 million or more? All of the sudden, 582 doesn’t sound like much and statistically it is not very significant. I agree that nobody wants drunks or drugged up people on our roads. I don’t have an answer to the problem, I just don’t agree with roadblocks in this country unless there is a specific criminal on the lam in the area.
Here! Here! Fed Up! How many liberties is government going to take before people finally wise up!!
Four hits in 124 stops. A whopping 3% rate of return. Congratulations, all.
Maybe the drunks called for cabs. Maybe they didn’t go out at all. Maybe they avoided the checkpoint since they have to be announced ahead of time. Maybe you shouldn’t jump to conclusions.
What? You wish there were more drunks and drugs roaming around the Northern end of the county? Are you nuts?
Besides by law, DUI checkpoints have to be announced in advance, have lighted signs announcing the DUI checkpoint well in advance of reaching it, and have at least one route drivers can take to avoid the checkpoint between those lighted signs and the actual checkpoint. Only the stupid drunks get caught at the actual checkpoint. Usually there are a couple officers detailed to follow people who choose to turn off prior to reaching the checkpoint, but they can’t stop you unless you give them a reason to….most of the time more arrests are made by those officers than the ones actually working the checkpoint.
So 120 people, minding their own business, were pulled over by the police for no reason. Anyone remember when this was a free country, where citizens had the right to drive down the road without being stopped and searched at random? The real reason for all of this is found in the last sentence: “Troopers from JFK Barrack made 582 arrests for driving under the influence in 2012, making them the highest producing barrack in the state.” Highest producing, like in fines brought in. Just your local politicians squeezing a few more dollars out of their sheep.
An arrest for DUI benefits everyone as it takes a person off the road who has no buisness operating a motor vehicle. Remember driving is a privelage not a right!
And they’ll be back at it in no time because that’s what brings in the money. More lousy laws with no teeth – it’s not about eliminating DUIs, just making some cash for the County or State. I’d like to see the stats on repeat offenders – anyone have a good link for this area?
Blame the courts for the light punishments.
Really? You think DUI arrests actually generate money for the state? At most it’s a $1000 fine and most of the time a good chunk of that is suspended unless the driver has several prior DUI arrests. Overtime pay for at least 2 officers to be in court (the arresting officer and the breath tech at a minimum usually) and court costs probably eat up most of that assuming there’s no postponement. If the driver is represented by a public defender then it probably costs the state a good chunk of money.
Most of the cost to the driver for a DUI arrest goes to lawyer fees, increased insurance premiums, paying for alcohol treatment, and possibly the loss of their job depending on what they do. Don’t want to pay it? Then don’t drink and drive. It’s not hard to avoid getting a DUI. There are things like cabs who will pick you up from any location in the county and drive you to any other location. If you can’t afford a cab ride or don’t have a buddy who’s willing to be a DD then you can’t afford to go out drinking.
Jimmy – you just showed exactly why the laws are boloney. You stated “unless the driver has several prior DUI arrests.” Why on earth are we handing back licenses for a PRIVILEGE again and again and again. And we’re surprised that there continues to be a DUI problem and too many traffic fatalies??? This is absolute insanity.
Fed up than we need to elect better judges!
Bologna.
@Because says – I didn’t want to insult the meat!
CDEV – yes, the judges are part of the equation but it’s also the laws. There is nothing to prevent people from becoming habitual DUI drivers. With no fatality, what is the maximum penalty? These guys are ticking time bombs when left to roam and drive at their will. As much as I want to see it end, the road block isn’t the answer. As an innocent citizen there is not much I resent more than an illegal search of my person because there might be someone out there doing something illegally.
People were being physically searched at this particular checkpoint? Why do people keep alluding to “being searched”?
I have been through several checkpoints, throughout many states, and never once was my vehicle or my person ‘searched’.
What gives?
Fed up, you’re preaching to the choir on that. As far as DUI offenders and repeat DUI offenders getting their licenses back, that’s an MVA issue and has little to do with what happens in court.
Personally, I think that the limit should be lower than .08 (most countries it’s significantly lower…Australia for example is .04 I think.) If you get arrested for 1 DUI and take the test and blow over the limit, then your license should be automatically suspended for 6 months effective immediately (with the option by an administrative judge to extend that to a full year, but not cut it short.) You get arrested for a 2nd one then it’s a minimum full year suspension. 3rd one and you lose your license period. That’s not how it works however, and given the number of people driving with suspended licenses already it’s not going to prevent people from continuing to drive drunk. It would also help matters if people actually faced jail time on their first offense (a couple weekends at least) instead of a slap on the wrist, a mostly suspended fine, some alcohol classes, and maybe an alcohol restriction on their license. There also is supposed to be increased penalties for refusing to take a test, but I’ve never seen a judge impose them. You should also lose your license on the spot for at least a year if you refuse the test regardless of your past history. Part of signing for your license states that you agree to submit a chemical test as required by a law enforcement officer and if you don’t uphold your part of that agreement then you shouldn’t be allowed to keep your license.
Oh, and Fed Up, a DUI checkpoint is not a search of your person or vehicle by any stretch of the imagination….something that I’m pretty sure SCOTUS has ruled on already.
Jimy, You really think that .05 is fair? 1-1/2 to 2 beers requires a loss of driving privs, payment of many thousands of dollars? Is your real name SNEAD on the other thread about this? NHSTA stats have proven that the majority of fatalities occur at .17 BAC, double the current rate. Most accidents occur at the .13 rate. 08 BAC is nothing more than a feel good, big brother kowtowing to MADD. Michigan and a number of states are going to try and raise it back to the more appropriate .10, were it sat for years and didn’t spawn a giant legal industry. The ONLY reason it dropped to .08, raised the drinking age to 21 and lowered the speed limit was various D and R Congress critters threatened to withold Highway funds. For the record, you CAN be brought up on DUI/DWI charges in this state from .04 on up if you tick off the wrong people. Check the law.
So, I take it you’re in favor of repealing all drunk driving laws then? Just let people get hammered at the bar and drive home. Sounds like a fantastic idea until it’s your family getting killed by one of them.
Jimmy,
That’s a pretty knee-JERK reaction to Pavel. Maybe you should go take your meds.
Heroin? And you guys think that because it’s 3% it’s no big deal? What rate of return would you have preferred? This is no paradise, and your disappointment in the low return is merely an indication of your apathy towards the problem.
It doesn’t justify an illegal search of all of the innocent people who were stopped. What do you think can be found if every home is search w/o notice? Remember – that is Constitutionally protected yet somehow it has been bent that a mobile person can be violated in this way. It is a slippery slope. Spot checks of people walking the mall – entering an arena – the movies. I’m guessing folks aren’t entirely law abiding in all these activities either, but the search is really the point.
Original,
You mock 4 hits out of 124??? As a lawful citizen I’m shocked with the 2 DUI ‘s and 20 capsules of heroin that were found. A good haul as I see it.
Lets not forget that the Harford County Sheriff’s Office was also involved in this. Considering they were responsible for 3 out of the 4 grabs that night…
Surprise, surprise.
If nothing else, this demonstrates how difficult it is to satisfy the public that we serve. Some citizens are praising the drug arrest and DUI’s while others are complaining about the cost and saying it was ineffective. The same people claiming that “we are all about production” meaning money producing numbers, focus strictly on those same numbers while ignoring the possibility of prevention, which is hard to show statistically. When it is all said and done, it is our job to try to satisfy and serve all of these people that are completely on a different page from eachother, and do it flawlessly because any mistakes will be pounced on by one side or the other.
NOT trampling all over the 4th amendment would be a great start.
How is a DUI checkpoint trampling all over the 4th Amendment? It’s advertised in advance when and where it’ll be, there has to be some turn off people can take to avoid the checkpoint between where the signs are placed and the actual checkpoint, and lastly, no search is being conducted. Willingly driving into a well marked DUI checkpoint, stopping for a couple minutes while an officer asks you a couple questions, talks a little about the dangers of drunk driving, and hands you a pamphlet about it does not constitute a search of your person or vehicle. They don’t even check your ID or run your driver’s license/tags on a DUI checkpoint. The goal is to find drunk drivers and delay people as little as possible in the process.
If you turn down the escape route, you’ll be pulled over for a non-functioning tail light that mysteriously fixes itself as soon as the trooper returns to his car.
And if a trooper or deputy is making illegal stops then file a complaint. Most patrol cars have in car video that automatically activates when the lights are turned on. Should be pretty easy to prove if your tail light is working or not when the trooper stops you.
Simply turning down the escape route isn’t grounds for a traffic stop, but I get it. You don’t like the police and your mind is already set on this so matter what any of us say or the U.S. Supreme Court says about it, you’re going to disagree. That’s your prerogative, but it doesn’t make you right.
You’re assuming many things from a single sentence.
And there is plenty of case law that says it is not a violation of the 4th Amendment if certain procedures are followed, despite what some of the wannabe law experts on here think.
This has nothing to do with the 4th Amendment. Those personnel were not subject to illegal search and seizure.
Search is only by consent, or incident to arrest.
These types of “roadblocks” as you call it are merely enforcement ands prevention efforts. Case in point, the US Border Patrol do them all across the west to detect the transport of illegal aliens, are you in a position to comment on how those are a drain on the economy? How much of a drain is it to have those same aliens living off of entitlements from your tax dollars?
I would much rather see a few hours of overtime for prevention efforts, rather than a crash reconstruction team piecing a fatality accident together.
The 4th Amendment protects people from unreasonable search and seizure, amongst other things.
How are sobriety checkpoints violating that amendment? You are not subject to search, unless by consent or incident to arrest. Nothing is being seized, unless you are arrested for a crime at which point any illegal contraband may be seized as evidence.
In a June 14, 1990 ruling, the US Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of sobriety checkpoints to detect and deter impaired drivers. not sure how much clearer of an explanation you need – the highest court in the U.S. ruled in favor of them, making them legal. In addition, similar checkpoints are done all across the western United States in an attempt to detect the transport of illegal aliens. Those have been ruled legal as well.
As far as the comments on the overtime hours, that is just plain ludicrous. They are not always completed during “overtime” hours. Sometimes the checkpoint is the Trooper’s / Officers’ appointed place of duty for that day – no overtime. However, when taken into the grand scheme of things, I would much rather pay for a few hours of overtime in a prevention / enforcement effort than having to pay those same hours for an accident reconstruction team to go out and piece together a fatality traffic accident.
Finally, there are several statements suggesting that these 120+ drivers were “pulled over” (for no reason). Well, the reason was an enforcement and prevention effort; and they were not “pulled over”. They were merely slowed down for a few moments. If you think the punishment is too light in this county / state for DUI offenders, then blame the courts for that one – Judges set the sentencing, not the officers.
This is the same court that ruled Obamacare to be Constitutional,,,give me a break!!
And they are a Conservative leaning court. So draw whatever conclusion you can’t stand from that.
The type of court does not matter. Just because they uphold nearly everthing the feds do still does not make it right or constitutional. Since 1934 it has not mattered about the make up of the court, they have only overturned 1 piece of legislation Congress has passed… By the way… if our current court is your definition of conservative, I would hate to see your definition of liberal.
I’m sure you’re upset. I also believe you are exaggerating. Which single piece of congressional legislation do you believe they have over turned?
Yes. You were exaggerating.
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/GPO-CONAN-2002/pdf/GPO-CONAN-2002-10.pdf
Tons of laws since 1934. Michael, go back to school, or at least learn to support your statements with research before posting them where people can counter you with obvious facts
The single piece of legislation concerned an act congress passed to prohibit the carryin of a concealed weapon in a school zone….also if you read my comment you would see I said The Supreme Court hasnot overturned a piece of legislation congress passed, not that there haven’t been laws passed since 1934. Now remember I said Congresssional acts, not case law such as Roe .v Wade.
Read my reference that I dutifully provided to refute your suggestion which is now false.
The list contains congressional acts. Deny deny deny – the way of the willfully ignorant.
Hey CDEV, Spelling is not a priviledge. You shouldn’t post
Spelling is the argument of the weak……What is your excuse? Typing drunk?
Hey Because… I went to that site pretty cool ,,, I bookmarked it,,,, I still don’t think The Court goes far enough to protect and uphold the constitution, but I appreciate you showing me that link. I also still hold that we cannot just allow our rights to be abridged in the name of safety or security.
While I may agree with your last statement, this is the system that we work in and the one that we are involved in making better or worse. And if you don’t like the people that represent others to bring home toys and bacon for all their selfish constituents, make sure when you vote, you vote for someone who understands that personal sacrifice is good for the country and self enrichment is not.
I think MADD should lobby to pass driver-less car bills in all of the states. Thanks to the Google Car we will all soon be able to get home from the bar safely. And DUI’s will be a thing of the past. Unless this is all about revenue. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_driverless_car