Sobriety Checkpoints....

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Jim Diver

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I was stopped at a DUI check point tonight. I am saddened that these things exist.

I just refused to say anything and handed over my reg, license, and proof of insurance. He asked a few questions which I refused to answer and let me move on.

How do you handle these things? Is it just me or does it resemble Nazi Germany and the old USSR?
 
The Supreme Court decided they're legal - the Court overlooked the Constitution, focusing instead on the drunk driving problem: "No one can seriously dispute the magnitude of the drunken driving problem or the States' interest in eradicating it....the weight bearing on the other scale—the measure of the intrusion on motorists stopped briefly at sobriety checkpoints—is slight." Wait a few years, they'll have DNA checks using the same criteria.
 
Speak in a heavy soviet accent, It will anoy them, but they can't get you on anything since you are cooperating with them. :evil: I've had quite a few get the joke. One even said he was ashamed to do the checkpoint, he felt like a stormtrooper.
 
Soviet accent - all affirmative answers are "Da," and negatives are "Nyet." Pretty simple - throw a "comrade" or two in and you're good to go... At lest enough to get the point across, eh comrade? :scrutiny:
 
I like the fact that you refused to answer the questions. You shouldn't have to answer questions when you have not given probable cause for the police to believe you have committed a crime (and of course, you can't be compelled to talk even if you HAVE committed a crime).

The existence of this policy -- and the Supreme Court's endorsement of it -- is SICK.

Imagine how much better the world would be if people of conscience REFUSED to do things that are morally or ethically wrong EVEN IF their bosses order them to do it. Imagine if cops refused to do such things because they know they're a violation of our rights! That cop who admitted feeling like a stormtrooper is a coward. And if not a coward, he is at least part of the problem, because whether he believes in the policy or not, he is still perpetuating the reality of it.

I have never been stopped at one. If I ever am, I guess I will do as Jim did, and provide the documents but refuse to say anything.

-Jeffrey
 
if i remember correctly they cant even force you to stop at those things. 'course, you blow through it, thats probably probable cause, endangerment, obstruction, and why not, throw disturbing the peace in there too.
you done right, dont piss 'em off, but dont let 'em take your for a ride either
(sorry THR LEO's! i respect you and the work you do, and thank you for it, but i've been hassled by a LOT of cops for minding my own buisness, probably cuz im young and tend toward punk-style clothes.)
 
I have never been stopped at a sobriety check point. I am against drunk drivers big time, but this whole check point system strikes me as un-American and creepy.
 
I went through one once. I was ready to give them a piece of my mind, but I don't think I ever came to a complete stop. It was pretty much "Hi" and wave you on by....vroom...I could sense the embarrassment on the policeman's face so I just let it go at that.
 
the ones where they are checking your registration and inspection stickers are almost worse in my mind, since you know damned well in those instances its all about the money. But the sobriety ones are bad too. You think these are bad, wait until they get the national ID's and put in the general checkpoints--these have already been proposed. A de facto national ID will be in place with the "standardized State Licenses".
 
Something I just thought of...

Anyone who get the shotgun news has seen that place with the 8 page ads for older/antique sutff you know the one with all of the illustrations...

Ive seen them selling old Soviet Communist Party ID's, the look ike passports and have some poor bastards picture and info in there. Thye looked pretty neat, IIRC they were only like $10

THat would be funny to hand over to a cop anytime they hassle you unnecessarily, ie a checkpoint. :D
 
I've only been stopped at one, about 6 years ago. It was in rural PA at about 1 AM.
The officer just shined a light on my eyes and asked if I'd had anything to drink.
I said, "No Sir."
He waved me through. No papers were shown.
 
THat would be funny to hand over to a cop anytime they hassle you unnecessarily, ie a checkpoint.
Click to expand...
And if you know somebody who does any kind of printing and restoration work, you could probably get one made up with your information in it.

Is it considered forging an ID if you print up an obsolete ID from a foreign intelligence service? Ok, so maybe it's not such a great idea... well, it might be fun as a novelty. DHS or somesuch might not be too thrilled about it. Probably best that you don't. It's funny to think about, though.

I got stopped at new years one time. Ok, three times, actually. I hit three separate checkpoints. I guess they were looking for people who were seriously trashed (and I'm sure they found more than a few), so my one beer five hours (and a meal) before just didn't rate. I didn't even come to a full stop. I did have a Sheriff's deputy tail me for about a mile. I guess I wasn't interesting, because he stoped to nail two idiots tossing fireworks into a field. The whole thing struck me as silly. I didn't see anybody stopped at the checkpoint, but the deputy who was out patroling like he's supposed to actually caught somebody comitting a crime. Go figure.
 
Don't do what I did once at the California entry checkpoint - I pulled my left sleeve up and said "Hang on, I've got the required entry tattoo right here". They pulled me over and went thru my car looking for fruit. They don't have a sense of humor.
When I lived in Switzerland I'd get stopped once a month on my bicycle by a kid with a machine pistol hung around his neck. He'd ask for my papers (we were required to carry papers) and then he'd check my bike license, bell and brakes, which were required to operate a bike in heaven. I'm well versed in living in a police state - Bush and company can't bring it on fast enough to satisfy me.
 
went thru one of these recently,did not have to slow down,but they had several people pulled over going the other way,about 1/2 mile down the road sat a motorcycle policeman on the side of the road people were pulled over on.he must have been radioing ahead who to stop.
 
whatever -drunkards deserve hassles

ive been thru a few of these things.
it is a lttle odd to have them "make sure" i got a motorcycle license, but overall , ehh- its not really a stop, and really how much different is it than a toll booth.

i dont see driving as a right with all the money that has to be spent to put roads down, enforce/ regulate traffic, on and on.
Drunk drivers scare me.
once you get behind the wheel , you lose a bunch of rights, just like when you get on an airplane, and cars use more public funds than planes do i think.
enough of us prefer to be safe (remove drunks) that the majority approves of this practice, nazi as it may seem

Don't do what I did once at the California entry checkpoint - I pulled my left sleeve up and said "Hang on, I've got the required entry tattoo right here". They pulled me over and went thru my car looking for fruit. They don't have a sense of humor.
Click to expand...

HA! says you! TWo of them (we got rerouted by snow) told us this-
1st one- come on share yer buds, all i do is blow joints and wave cars!!
2nd, a bit north entry point after we ask road conditions-
"well, its a bit icy, i wouldnt smoke any GREeen Buds on the road!"
guess you gotta BE Cali to get in safely!
 
I just hand over the requisite paperwork and answer any questions in German. I don't drink so I am obviously sober. Since the dumb bastards can't figure out what is going on, I just get waved through.
 
This is a mostly-unnoticed part of this:
Wow you can refuse to answer the questions? And he let you go?
Click to expand...
Yup. You can also decline consent to search, etc. This is the traffic-stop equivalent of calling a bluff. Despite the papers, bitte flavor of the whole affair (and I thoroughly agree. I detest checkpoints), we're still not that far down the road.

Mike
 
Ive seen them selling old Soviet Communist Party ID's, the look ike passports and have some poor bastards picture and info in there. Thye looked pretty neat, IIRC they were only like $10
Click to expand...

I bet you that the machines that made that badge are sitting in a warehouse somewhere.
 
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