OP DUI Checkpoint: 135th near Nieman Road

UPDATED: Here are the arrest totals for the checkpoint: 11 DUI arrests, 4 MIP arrests, 2 Narcotic arrests, 1 Open container, 1 Male urinating in public.

PREVIOUSLY: Overland Park police conducted a sobriety checkpoint late Friday through early Saturday on eastbound 135th Street near Nieman Road. I had never observed one, so the department let me hang out, ask questions and do a little people-watching. Sgt. Ray Tisinger of O.P. police oversaw the operation, though there were officers from other agencies, including the sheriff's office and Mission and Merriam P.D.

I've been to graduations that were less organized. They had about 40 officers on the scene Friday, and each had a specific job -- from parking cars to testing drivers to filling out paperwork. At one end of the lot, a line of cruisers was parked and filming officers as they ran drivers through the tests. These checkpoints are a lot of work, Tisinger said. Overland Park does them only a few times a year.

A lot of our regular readers wonder why police do sobriety checkpoints instead of saturation patrols, which send officers throughout the city to look for impaired drivers. So I asked Tisinger. He said they tend to find more drunk drivers through sobriety checkpoints. If an officer on saturation patrol pulls over a drunk driver, that officer could be out of commission for a long time, running tests and doing paperwork. At a checkpoint, everything is streamlined.

The checkpoint started a little before 11, though things didn't pick up until midnight or so. Most of the first few drivers passed the tests easily. (If a driver said they've had anything to drink, the police put them through the test. As one officer explained, a guy might say he had one drink, when he actually put away three or four.)

The actual turnout on Friday was lower than Tisinger expected -- there just weren't that many cars that went through -- but the people-watching was pretty good. We only had two criers. Most of the people tested, it seemed, were guys in their 20s or low 30s, though there was one middle-aged man who got booked. Police also pulled over a group of young people who allegedly threw a bag of weed from their car.

My favorite suspect of the night was a man who wasn't over the BAC limit, but who reportedly urinated next to the portable toilets, as opposed to inside them. He was in handcuffs, so when he needed to call somebody on his cellphone, an officer held the phone up to his ear. I felt a little bad for the officer, especially when the suspect started going off on the "f***ing cops" to his caller.

Thanks again to Sgt. Tisinger and Overland Park police. I don't have arrest numbers yet from the police, but will post as soon as I get them.

Comments

[Nick]

Wow! What a gig. Lets see, that is 40 officers @ about 275.00 each + A/V crew + County Jail personnel + records personnel + dispatch on straight time...but they can't afford to patrol residential neighborhoods?

Yeah, I know it is being paid for by money forcibly taken from tax payers and generous contributions from the Insurance Industry in the form of so called grants.
I was just being envious of those who can afford to hire governmental agencies to selectively enforce only the laws that they feel important. Personally, if I had that power they would be concentrating on areas known to be frequented by violent criminals.
It is however, comforting to know that there is little chance of an officer being hurt in the line of duty, while shaking down innocent people in hopes of catching someone who may, or may not have done something wrong.

[milwolf]

Nick:

I agree.... Overtime for worthless, lazy traffic cops!!! Meanwhile, the real police officers are endurign the stress and danger of the streets !!

[The Goo Goo Dolls]

If it saves one life, it's worth it.

[JDog]

What happened to the bag of weed???????

[Nick]

Pft JDog,
It was alleged weed. One step below K-Pot.

[goo goo drools]

Whatever, Mr. Goo Goo. The police need to get off their butts at these stupid checkpoints and find the REAL criminals and habitual WAAAYYYY over the limit drunks.

[riley]

Is there a lot of crime in OP that these cops were not focusing on while doing the checkpoint?

[Brock S.]

I didn't know you could put a price tag on a human life. If they didn't do these stops, and a drunk killed a family of 5 you all would be whining about the police department never making an effort to stop the DUIs. You can't have it both ways.

[Nick]

You can't have it both ways.-Brock

I don't ever recall a pressing outcry from the public demanding they be subjected to Nazi style roadblocks in order to save their lives Brock.

In fact, every single piece of legislation on the topic carries the name of individual insurance companies or their special interests sponsoring the legislation.

What I do constantly and continuously keep hearing public outcry over is violent crimes and about the only reaction we seem to see is the KCPD's criminal advocate police chief trying to set up dialogs with, "community leaders" (Unelected Criminal Spokespersons).

[A]

Nazi-style roadblocks? A little bit overboard on the comparison, but thanks for the laugh.

[Kelly]

Nick being "a little bit overboard"? No way!

[Sage]

Police are Nazi's. Period.

Let it rain.

[milwolf]

The 4th Amendment is suppossed to protect us from unlawful search and seizure and the 5th amendment is suppossed to protect us from self-incrimidation.

These "sobriety checkpoints" unlawfully stop motorists, without probable cause, and the 1st question they ask, without probable cause or reasonable suspicision, is "have you been drinking" , a violation of the 5th Amendment.

DUI stops never stop drunk drivers from killing someone. While these bozos are wasting taxpayer $$$ , the chronic drunks are on the streets. Like I say, Sobriety checkpoints are welfare for lazy cowardly traffic cops, while the real street officers are doing real police work.

[Pharmy Joe]

The supreme court no longer cares about the constitution. The upheld that the unwarranted search and seizure of your personal property (a car) was legal despite its obvious direct contradiction to the constitution.

How about you arrest the people who are driving bad, not the one guy who had beer breath but drives safely and conservatively even when inebriated.

[Brock]

These "sobriety checkpoints" unlawfully stop motorists, without probable cause, and the 1st question they ask, without probable cause or reasonable suspicision, is "have you been drinking" , a violation of the 5th Amendment.
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Actually, the 5th Amendment gives you the right not to answer that question, not prohibiting the officer to ask it.

DUI stops never stop drunk drivers from killing someone.
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You can tell the future? How do you know if the drivers that were arrested at DUI checkpoints were going to kill someone or not?

How about you arrest the people who are driving bad, not the one guy who had beer breath but drives safely and conservatively even when inebriated.
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This is the dumbest thing I have ever seen posted here. You are standing up for drunken drivers. Way to go.

[Kelly]

Brock - I'm so glad to finally see someone with a brain! Thank you.