DUI Checkpoint Nets Nearly 200 Stops, 1 Arrest at Clearwater Kmart
Pinellas County Sheriff's deputies made one arrest and issued a citation during a sobriety checkpoint Friday night at a Kmart on U.S. 19, according to officials.
Pinellas County Sheriff's deputies stopped nearly 200 vehicles — making one arrest and issuing a citation — during a sobriety checkpoint Friday night at the Kmart parking lot near U.S. 19 and State Road 580 in Clearwater.
Deputies arrested and charged one person with no valid driver license, two counts of misdemeanor possession of marijuana and a count of possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell. Deputies also issued one citation.
At the checkpoint, community policing, K-9 and narcotics deputies diverted 194 vehicles looking for alcohol and drug impaired drivers. There were 790 vehicles that passed by the area, according to officials.
Along with impaired drivers, deputies were looking for driver license, registration, insurance, and equipment violations.
Pinellas County Sheriff's deputies conducted the sobriety checkpoint from 10 p.m. Friday through 3 a.m. Saturday at the Kmart parking lot, 26996 U.S. Highway 19 N.
The sobriety checkpoints are conducted once a month at various locations throughout the county.
Related coverage:
Lori
12:10 pm on Monday, November 19, 2012
With a bar right across the street you'd have thought there would have been alot more!
Gail Perry
1:01 pm on Monday, November 19, 2012
This is really creepy. They call it a DUI check (they only found one) ... but once they've pulled you over, they essentially have a license to search. I'm not saying that any of those things were GOOD things, but it all sounds very poice-state to me. The sheriff's cars are already fitted with dashboard cameras, connected to computers, that can find suspended licenses, no insurance, etc. All that information is instantly available to them. They can just drive around and do it.
i want my party back
4:18 pm on Monday, November 19, 2012
how come we never see the check point at 2:00 in the afternoon in front of a country club?? these check points are to put the people barely making it totally under...they cruel, barbaric and against the basic rights of our constitution
JOHN HAMM
9:35 pm on Monday, November 19, 2012
What is the law regarding this? Police normally require "reasonable suspicion" of something awry to stop a vehicle, correct? But if you stop every car it's okay?
Michael D.
9:10 am on Tuesday, November 20, 2012
John,
It is announced with reasonable time before hand it is legal. But it has to be broadcasted which is the case here.
Timber
3:14 am on Thursday, November 22, 2012
John,
The structure employed by the police is, in theory, a neutral plan of choosing motorists for inquiry. This is supposed to overcome the individualized reasonable suspicion requirement. Most people do not grasp that such checkpoints are voluntary on your part. It is perfectly legal and lawful for the police to make contact with you and ask (request) you anything under the sun, but there is no corresponding duty for you to give a direct answer to the question posed. There are only three ways your government can constitutionally interfere with your Liberty (A) by a warrant, (B) reasonable suspicion, and (C) your consent. Checkpoints would never be sustainable upon a warrant and reasonable suspicion is always lacking prior to the initial stop this leaves your consent. People are trained to give consent to 'authority' either through ignorance, fear or both.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILqc0DMh84k
Jeannie Vaughn
6:32 am on Tuesday, November 20, 2012
What a waste of time...and taxpayer money!! 200 stops and ONE arrest, not even for DUI. Ridiculous.