Slowest-ever DUI checkpoint in Northland?

Northland drivers, models of sobriety:

• The Kansas City Missouri Police Department conducted a Sobriety Checkpoint on August 4th, 2006 from 2100 hours to 0400 hours atM152 Highway and Green Hills Rd . Eastbound traffic was checked with total of 1228 vehicles stopped. A total number of 2 DUI arrests were made , along with 4 other traffic charges.

(2 / 1,228) * 100 = 0.2%, i.e., one-fifth of 1 percent, or 1 in every 600+ 200 drivers.

Comments

[BS Steve]

Still think this is a so called epidemic?You fear mongers need to give it up and quit trying to justify this crap.

[R]

Dude, rounding errors! 2 of 1228 is the same as 1 in 624 (not 1 in 200)!

[R]

oops...1 in 614

[Northeast Guy]

I'd be curious to know if every car was searched like the checkpoint in Northeast.

So, when are they going to start the house-to-house searches? After all, if you can search a car under the guise of drunk driving, you most certainly have a case for house searches without probable cause.

[BS Steve]

they already do after when you get a dui part of your punishment is no drinking or alcohol in your own home ask Jamie bout that one which I still have a hard time with that one and how they justified it.

[Butch]

I would say that is only if your on probation. Would you rather be in jail without drinking or be in your own home without drinking. You do have a choice you know.

[BS Steve]

Ok Butch but what does drinking and driving have to do with being in your own home sounds like your a propagandist that believes everyone that has gotten a dui is an instant alchoholic.The actual point is these laws are so out of whack it is pathetic and it is because of the fear mongering that people try to instill in others.

[Butch]

On the contrary, I don't think the DUI laws are strict enough. There are people in the system with over 10 DUI's who have actually been in accidents and injured people, and guess what, they are out on the streets driving. I don't know if the drinking in your own home thing is a good and/or bad idea, but when you get probation, you have a choice of whether to go to jail or go home and if you go home you still must be punished to some degree.

[Butch]

Myself, if I was in the same situation. I would much rather go home and not drink until my probation is up. If you can't do that, then maybe you are an alcoholic. hmmmm

[LarryL]

I agree. Fear mongering. These overzealous DUI laws just tighten the grip of control on the general public by the government. I think it should only be legal to drink alcohol if you are strapped into your bed for 24 hrs. This way you could not have a chance of harming anyone. No,not really, but with the trend of laws always getting more and more strict,in the future who knows?

[BS Steve]

yea ok I have only had one dui myself and speaking from experience I wasted alot of money on it.And guess what?It was when the laws were more lax than this and since then I have not gotten another one and plan to keep it that way.And if you still wana try and enforce that idea of yours that this is an epidemic then where are all these so called drunk drivers?I have yet to see a check point statistic that shows there are so many intoxicated drivers out there that we need stricter laws.

[Butch]

Maybe they should try outside of Arrowhead stadium on all the exits. Think that would satisfy your statistic count?

[BS Steve]

actually I bet it wouldnt for the simple fact that after the games I think half the police station is in that area anyhow.

[jamie]

They should have went to the lake - stats are better there - check this out from Lake of the Ozarks story.

"Last weekend, he said the patrol conducted a check point about three miles from the scene of the crash. Of the 58 boats that were stopped, 10 of the drivers were arrested for boating under the influence, he said.

"We know that there is a problem with drinking and boating in that area," Humphrey said.

[LANCE MCNACK]

Uhhh....don't drink and drive and you won't have that problem. Instead of making it a conspiracy, simply say no to driving when you're drunk. If you're not drunk or have been drinking when you are driving, you won't have a problem with checkpoints. Stop making these punk ass excuses and theories and put the bottle down. If you can't put the bottle down, put your keys down.....simple.

[LANCE MCNACK]

Sorry, I meant if you're not drunk, you won't have a problem with checkpoints.

[Big al]

WOW!!! I guess moving up north means that I now have the same crime ratio as JO (LOL). I think these numbers justify why they search the cars elsewhere. State has to make it up on the short end.

I just want to make sure that some genius doesnt have a checkpoint ever again at this location..

Peace.

[Danny]

I don't drink and drive and I have a problem with them.

I don't want to be delayed and searched. PLENTY of legitmate people object to a police state.

[jamie]

Well said Danny.

[JC_in_KC]

I don't drink and drive and I have a problem with drunks.

I do not mind a short delay at 2:00am and do not believe about the searches. PLENTY of legitimate people object to a drunk state.

NOW, lets go after the illegal DRIVING WHILE SHOOTING epidemic. If it's not a violation of anyones civil rights to have a DUI checkpoint then when are we going to have a weapon (GUN) checkpoint. Oh I forgot they don't pay taxes they just kill people. DUI are guaranteed MONEY, MONEY, MONEY, easy convictions for the drivers. Oh my co-workers just informed me that the black leaders of KC thought that a weapons checkpoint would violate their civil rights. What about the victims civil rights? Ask any victims mother and grandmother what the city should do.
Enough said.

[inkandsmoke]

I got stuck in this checkpoint Saturday night. It took me 30 minutes to get through it. But only about 30 seconds for them to ask if I'd been drinking and let me go on my merry way. As a girl with a previous DUI - I don't support checkpoints, especially on a major highway like 152. I could not believe how many cops were out there. Yet there were 3 murders that night. They need to patrol where the real crime is.

[Don]

Need to be out rounding up the pit bulls and their scumbag owners.

[milwolf]

2 arrests out of 1228 stops equates to .2%.
Not very cost effiicent ...

Besides , KCMOPD had to call out all off-duty officers Saturday night to handle the midtown riots. The "wanna be cops " at the
Sobriety Checkpoint should have been doing some real police work quelling that disturbance rather than getting a bonus for harrassing honest citizens.
I am sure that some sergeant or captain will get a promotion from this stop !!!

[BS Steve]

I dont know bout alot of you but I honestly am not worried bout the drunks I think my chances of being killed by a 80 year old man or women behind the wheel is much higher on the stats than a drinker hitting me or mabe even a 16 year old fresh with their nice shiny new lisense what kind of check point are they gonna come up with next?

[mark]

The drunk drivers should crash into all these checkpoint supporters wanting to trample on our constitution.

[Danny]

You can catch drunks.

You see erratic driving, you pull them over. Leave me alone.

Take that high concentration of police, spread them out. You'd certainly get more then two drunks off the road. Might have also prevented that near riot I just read about.

And if I'm out at 2am, and it happens sometimes, I don't want a 'short' delay...I want to get home! 30 seconds on a good day, 30 minutes on a bad day and likely somewhere in between.

I thought our society was supposed to work on the presumption of innocence. Checkpoints are counter to that.

[Mark]

checkpoints are great for a police state but not so much for american ideals.

[Joe]

Drunk drivers kill about 3,000 innocent people a year nationwide.

Speeding probably kills more people nationwide. Why not reduce the speed limit to 45 mph (If it saves just ONE LIFE!)

This hardly justifies the use of checkpoints.

[nimrod]

Once again, the stats prove this is a HUGE waste of taxpayer's money. I think a single cop sitting in shadows along side 152 at that time of night (morning) would have a better chance of catching the drunks. Stopping that many people to catch two is not worth the time and effort, not to mention the huge waste of police resources. Any cops on here want to chime in what they think about this?

[Jim]

This is a make-work event for the police. If the city didn't do this, the cops would be doing nothing for their pay. Just as there are ticket writing quotas to keep the cops busy, these checkpoints are something to get the cops off their butts for a few hours.

Civil liberties, etc -- forget them.

[Mickey Mouse]

Watch it Don boy! Not all pitt bull owners are scum bags. If you don't want your car searched, then why don't you start carrying your pitt bull with you in the cars and drive where the dogs are legal. Then, do you think the cops would A) let you drive through, or B) shoot the dog. (Make sure the cops leg is out of the way first. Lord we don't need another cops leg shot!)

[Fixxer]

They got a disabled dump truck blocking I-435

[uncle whitee]

When it is your family who gets killed by a drunk driver you bitch, when you are sober and get pulled over in a check point , you bitch, if you are drunk and get pulled over and get a dui, you bitch, when you drink at home and don't drive any where you really don't have a reason to bitch, unless you run out of booze and are too drunk to go get more, then you bitch.
Keep plenty of booze at home, don't drink in front of your kids or let them have access to your booze, enjoy your booze when you do drink, AND STOP BITCHING!

[john]

what they should do is have check points giving tickets to the idiots playing their high power stereo systems, idiots cannot hear emergency vehicles coming up from behind, they are too busy dancing in the front sit, showing off... and getting high, yeah you hear them 3 blocks away. What they should do, go to all the pubs, watch the drunks come out... makes better since huh!

[signalthree]

For god's sake people. Quit bitching! If your not drunk, a checklane will only take 2-3 minutes of your precious Saturday night. If your are drunk, go to jail you selfish jerk. Everybody bitching here about civil liberties are just crybabies. I've casually monitored these blogs and noticed that its the same jackasses bitching everytime. Jaime, BS Steve, nimrod...your guys are little whiners who are bent out of shape because rather than take personal responsibility for your actions, you want to blame other people for your own screw-ups. Don't you ever get tired of bitching. Please, go crawl under a rock somewhere and DIE. Give the rest of a little peace.

[jamie]

Signal three- you have me all wrong. Read the blogs closer - I have said what I did was wrong and I accepted the responsibility. I never blamed anyone for this except for myself.

Even before my DUI, I didn't think checkpoints were justified and I still don't. And for the record - my DUI did not come from a checkpoint.

And I don't consider myself as "bitching" since I am taking steps by writing congressmen, senators, etc. to let them know how unjustified DUI checkpoints are. I have something I believe in, and I am not attacking people - I am attacking the system.

And I have been through MANY checkpoints where I had not had a drop to drink - and it took way more than "2-3 minutes" of my time.

And for the record again - it is JAMIE, not Jaime. And telling someone to DIE is so unappropriate. You don't like what I have to say? Don't read it. Grow up and learn to fight the fight without personally attacking people.

[mark]

signalthree is an example of the incoherent childish nature of those that dont care about the constitution. I wish they would quit bitching about people who care about America.

[Crime Scene KC]

R,

I wish you guys could ring a loud bell on my desk when I make such dumb errors!

A belated thanks for the heads-up.

Greg Reeves

[frank]

#1 your car doesn't get searched unless you are arrested at the checkpoint. Just as if you get arrested any other time, your car is searched before being towed.

#2 These officers wouldn't be patrolling other places (like the person referring to the 3 murders). Half of the people at KCMO's checkpoints are Highway Patrol. I don't see them working at 26th and Prospect. The others were working off duty, meaning they wouldn't be at work otherwise.

#3 Take your conspiracy theory, militia-minded thinking somewhere else. Checkpoints will be around a lot longer than you. They do like 10 a year in KC, so get over it.

[jamie]

Frank:

I don't know who you are talking to, but if you read back a few DUI threads ago - people's cars are and were checked EVEN THOUGH they had NOT been drinking!

Yes, it has happened to me as well. They were searching every car that went through the line. Tell me that is just and legal?!?!? I don't think so!

All checkpoints are not highway patrol officers - several I have seen around here are local city / county officers.

[Mark]

The message of American liberty will never get through the heads of law enforcement apologists.

[Doc]

If they really wanted to catch drunk drivers just wait for them to stagger out of the bars, fall down a few times while puking and get in their cars and start it up. That would save lives as they are taken off the street before they hit it.

[Reminder - Please sign your comments]

BS STEVE---geez man, how about an occasional pause and have you ever heard of the word punctuation?

[Common Sense]

Constitutional arguments aside, this is just an enormous waste of police resources (and therefore taxpayer dollars). Results like this convince me that saturation patrols in key areas (i.e. in places with high concentrations of bars) would be much more effective. And they would at least provide for the introduction of probable cause into the DUI arrest equation (through weaving, speeding, reckless driving, etc.). Not to mention the fact that if bar patrons saw police cruisers roving the area as they were walking out of a bar, they would probably think twice about getting behind the wheel in the first place.

[Deputy Sheriff]

Most of you are unbelievable! 1) I bet that most of the officers at the checkpoint were cadets who were getting training for school or yes, off duty officers. 2) Obviously getting only 2 out of the cars checked shows that checkpoints are working. 3) Officers have the right to check the area that is within accessability of the driver (God forbid if they found some illegal weapons, drugs, etc).

I bet that if you know someone killed by a drunk driver or someone carrying a gun they didn't have the right to carry, you would agree with checkpoints and a quick search of a vehicle.

What if your spouse was driving home one night after work and was hit and killed by a drunk driver? You would complain because not enough is being done about it. Let the officers do their job and stop criminal activity such as driving while intoxicated or under the influence of a drug. It is an impairment. It is a person driving a 4000 pound bullet looking for a target, you don't want to be the target!

[Joe]

"I bet that if you know someone killed by a drunk driver or someone carrying a gun they didn't have the right to carry, you would agree with checkpoints and a quick search of a vehicle.

What if your spouse was driving home one night after work and was hit and killed by a drunk driver? You would complain because not enough is being done about it. Let the officers do their job and stop criminal activity such as driving while intoxicated or under the influence of a drug. It is an impairment. It is a person driving a 4000 pound bullet looking for a target, you don't want to be the target!"

What a load. If my wife were a victim I would want to avenge myself on the culprit, not a bunch of people who have no criminal record, never hurt anyone, nor were likely to.

Accidents are a consequence of the fact that we travel in cars. If you are so worried about saving lives, why are you concentrating all of your efforts on catching people statistically shown to be virtually harmless?

"It is a person driving a 4000 pound bullet looking for a target, you don't want to be the target!"

This is junk. Most people who drink and drive kill no one, and are not likely to.

Tell you what: practice what you preach. Every policeman should periodically have to submit to a random search of your vehicles and homes without probable cause, just so you see what its like. Shouldn't be a problem if you have nothing to hide.

I don't want you searching me without probable cause PERIOD, GOT IT? just like i don't want you reading my mail or sifting through my garbage. That is my right as an American. I value my freedom, and I cherish my liberty. I can't believe more people aren't outraged.

And besides, states without checkpoints have fewer fatalites.

[KC Cicero]

Let's see: 1200 citizens stopped by the police to catch 2 people who may have had more than the legal limit -- but whose driving was aparantly unimpaired, since thay were not stopped for any other violation.

What a terrific use of our tax dollars. I hope the folks who were murdered, raped, robbed or assaulted while the police were conducting this important operation are not disappointed with our allocation of public safety resources. After all, just because our streets seem to be resembling the OK Corral doesn't meas the KCPD should give up its politically correct war on drinking (as opposed to drunk) drivers and dumb john wannabes.

Another day in post-constitutional America.

[fatman]

oh heck just another check point no prob.

[fatman]

just sad on both sides.cops n drunkrds.cops that have to be there,n drunks that have to......>drive.every one else just gets caught in the middle.

[nimrod]

signalthree, I seldom post here due to the people who constantly turn most posts here into a race issue or a MO vs KS contest, so don't post untruths about "bitching" and nice comment about going somewhere and dying BTW. And I did not blame anyone else for any of my "screw-ups", because I didn't commit any that have anything to do with this post. However, when I see that my constitutional rights being trampled because suddenly it's the PC thing to do, I will post my opinion. Whether you agree with my opinion or not, I could care less as the opinion of a twelve year old matters not to me.

Deputy Sheriff, I had a relative killed by a drunk driver and I still don't agree to the checkpoints. Like I said, put a cop on the shoulder and look for the obvious drunk drivers, I'll bet there would be better results. And since when did these checkpoints have the objective of looking for illegal guns? If you really are a DS, that sort of scares me as you haven't got a clue!

[Deputy Sheriff]

Check your laws nimrod. Especially if it is in plain view. I have nothing to do with Kansas city as far as my job goes. As far as sitting on the side of the road and waiting for a drunk driver to pass, well, we can't do that either. It doesn't matter what county you are in, you may have 3-6 deputies to cover the "unincorporated" parts of the county and respond as backup to the cities that need it. Most of you should really research your facts before putting things down and insulting people. If you check your sources, if you have any, most, if not all, checkpoints are government funded through grants, not your tax dollars in Kansas City.

I'm sure that most of you are well educated and can understand why some things are the way they are. Plus, it isn't just the officers faults either you know. Officers have a chain of command also and report to those as high as the mayor of a city and/or the state. So, it is not the individual officers fault. If you run into a turd cop, well, I am sorry and they insult our profession. Remember, the majority of us are here to serve and protect our community. If you are in my community, I hope that I can serve you well and make your community a safer place for you and your family, whether through patrol or DWI checkpoints. Either way, you may bitch anyway but in the long run, you will appreciate it.

[Reminder - Please sign your comments]

Deputy Sheriff Quote: As far as sitting on the side of the road and waiting for a drunk driver to pass, well, we can't do that either. It doesn't matter what county you are in, you may have 3-6 deputies to cover the "unincorporated" parts of the county and respond as backup to the cities that need it. Most of you should really research your facts before putting things down and insulting people. If you check your sources, if you have any, most, if not all, checkpoints are government funded through grants, not your tax dollars in Kansas City.

Citizen Response: Before you so quickly insult the citizens you purportedly protect officer, answer a question....do not the citizens of KC pay taxes to the federal government annually to support these violations of our right to unreasonable search and seizure...aka sobriety checkpoints? In addition, shouldn't we have more of your fellow officers backing up the short staffed 3-6 so they could sit on the side of the road and enforce the laws rather than violating our right to unreasonable search and seizure...aka sobriety checkpoints?

Quote Deputy Sheriff: I'm sure that most of you are well educated and can understand why some things are the way they are.

Citizen Response: Yes we do understand. Legislators have been duped by bad MADD and passed bad laws based on much overstated stats. Police have realized that their DA is able to convict people of DUI based on breath smell alone. Observations made by your fellow officers. I would hope you would like to be educated how your profession and the Senate and Congress have been duped and have turned ordinary citizens who pay your salaries into criminals.

Please visit RIDL.US and DUIBLOG.COM and educate yourself sir.

(Anonymous: In the future, please remember to sign your comments in the "Name" box. This keeps them from popping up in my 'delete' list. Thanks, Greg Reeves)

[nimrod]

So Deputy Sheriff, are you saying that the checkpoints are also there to check for illegal weapons? "Check your laws nimrod. Especially if it is in plain view". I thought that their purpose was to catch drunk drivers. Personally, I think that they are an excuse to look for any sort of violation that will end up with putting revenue in the city/county/state's pocket. These checkpoints for sure aren't about making our roads safer.

BTW, I never insulted you in my post though I did throw one signalthree's direction since he basically told me to go someplace and die.

[openmind]

"Check your laws nimrod. Especially if it is in plain view."

I am not sure that would hold up in court. A checkpoint is different than pulling someone over. To pull someone over, a driver has to do something to warrant it. After they have committed the offense, plain view is fair game.

At a checkpoint, the driver has done nothing to warrant being pulled over and if they appear unimpaired, they should be let go. They have done nothing wrong which would make something in the cabin of their vehicle relevant to a crime. I am sure a good lawyer could challenge this and win.

[The DB]

I wonder if the results would be different if they did them where people actually drank? They know the places all over the city. This is another case where they held a checkpoint and no one showed up (except for the two that were busted)