Posted on 02/22/2006 8:00:10 PM PST by elkfersupper
Sobriety checkpoint comes up dry on Rt. 1
After a few cars were pulled aside for license infractions at the Fairfax County Police Department’s sobriety checkpoint last weekend, a pickup truck nearly rolled past the officer’s outstretched arm, so the driver was motioned over for a field sobriety test.
"It’s not unusual that we don’t have any DWI arrests." - Rich Perez, public information officer
The officer smelled something, possibly alcohol, and made the driver walk a line, stand on one foot, and then a counting drill before administering the breath-o-lyzer – a hand held computer device that reads the alcohol content after breathing through a tube.
“He was zero,” the officer said, and let the driver go on his way. It was nearly 12:30 a.m. and the unending line of cars continued through the cones as the night wore on.
When alcohol was suspected, the officers made drivers go through a routine test, which this person passed.
“Sometimes they’re drunk and sometimes they’re not. That’s why we’re out here,” said Sgt. Ryan Morgan from the Mount Vernon station. “We’re doing this for their safety,” he added.
The word is out about the checkpoints though, and after several hours, and 888 cars, there wasn’t one drunk driver arrested.
“It’s not unusual that we don’t have any DWI arrests,” said public information officer Rich Perez. “Word of mouth about the checkpoints helps.”
Police did catch one driver with a fake ID, one with a suspended license, and six drivers with no driver’s licenses at all.
This sobriety checkpoint was conducted Friday night, Feb. 10, by several officers from the Mount Vernon District Station, backed up by a few auxiliary police officers. The officers channeled all the cars traveling southbound on Richmond Highway through a series of cones, stopping five cars at a time and visually checking each one. The first officer stops every car and directed them down the line after handing out a flyer. “We’re doing a DWI checkpoint tonight,” he said to each driver.
Morgan walked up and down the line with a clipboard, keeping track of all the cars. “To follow with the checkpoint, we must stop every car. We basically follow the law procedure-wise,” Morgan said. According to Morgan, there is a Fairfax County checkpoint every weekend somewhere in the county.
APO Toskin, an auxiliary police officer, has been manning the DWI checkpoints for 10 years. Through checkpoints like these and other drinking and driving deterrents, he has seen the number of drivers arrested for DWI go down. On a typical night, he said, “We used to get 10-12 DWI’s a night. Now we get two or three. The message is getting out.”
Cars in all the lanes on Route 1 were checked by Fairfax County police.
Captain Steve Wylie was the duty officer that night, and he traveled around the county, stopping in on things like this just “to see how things are going,” he said. “The purpose isn’t to catch them, it’s to discourage them,” Wylie said. He’s also seen the number of drunk drivers go down through the years. “Everything we’ve been doing over the last 15 years has been doing some good.”
At 12:10 a.m., Wylie expected things to pick up, especially after “last call,” at many of the local restaurants and bars. “It’s kind of early,” he said.
No one at this checkpoint, just outside the Days Inn in the Huntington area, was armed with the latest weapon in the Fairfax County Police Department’s arsenal, the Passive Alcohol Sensor, or “sniffer flashlight,” that detects alcohol in the air. Officers using the device have to be specially trained, and not all are according to Morgan, so the officers have to be observant. When looking in a car “you can usually get a sense, people that are drunk usually have outward signs,” Morgan said.
One of the pickup trucks was waved over because the driver didn’t have a license, and then it was discovered that the license was revoked after a previous DWI. The driver got out and the officers called a tow truck. “This one is a little bit more serious,” Morgan said, “he can’t be driving.” A tow truck came for the vehicle.
Cars traveling south on Richmond Highway in Mount Vernon were funneled into two lanes at the sobriety checkpoint.
The police department’s Mobil Command Unit was parked nearby, “basically as a warming place,” Morgan added. “Every 15 minutes or so, we give them a break.”
When the stopped cars got backed up too much along the highway, the officers step aside, clearing the lanes. “Opening it up, coming through,” one yelled, and they waved the cars through.
Ping.
Your papers, citizen.
They should do this along the border...
Responding to public outrage over idiots drinking and driving.
Exactly. Are your papers in order, Herr Citizen?
So deterrence works?
DWA: Driving with altoids.
It's really just a lot of nonsense that "assures" people the police are "doing something" about something that is perceived to be a major crisis in public safety.
Peppers, plez.
I got stopped last Fall (In Fairfax Co). He did a prime face sobriety test on me and let me go. I wasn't drunk, but I had a beer or two. I was honest with him and said I had some beer but I was okay. He checked my eyes and gave me a flyer.
“We’re doing this for their safety,” he added.
Can't they just arrest him for DWS (Driving while stupid)? Sometimes I almost wish they could arrest people for DWS. :)
But ya'll are right, this is really creepy in a Nazi kind of way.
In my town they just need to set up roadblocks on both ends of the road surround IHOP. About 2:30 am business would be booming for them.
This is nothing but revenue enhancement. They hope to catch outstanding warrants or expired tags.
And business it is! It's all about revenue enhancement.
And the cops in town get their jollies off harrassing college students. If your drunk and you have to get home you can be in serious trouble because you sure don't want to drive, but you will get ticketed for walking home too.
Agreed. Drinking AND driving is now illegal (recent development).
However, drinking then driving; while inadvisable and impractical, is still legal in all 50 states-for now.
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