Posted on 06/10/2013 3:32:45 PM PDT by Bodleian_Girl
PELL CITY, Alabama -- St. Clair and Bibb county authorities are confirming there were roadblocks at several locations in their counties Friday and Saturday asking for blood and DNA samples. However, the samples were voluntary and motorists were paid for them as part of a study, they said.
According to Lt. Freddie Turrentine of the St. Clair County Sheriff's Department, it isn't the first time such roadblocks have occurred in the area.
"They were here in 2007," said Turrentine, the supervisor in charge of the roadblocks, which took place in several locations in St. Clair County Friday night, early Saturday morning and Saturday night and early Sunday morning. "It's just with social media and Facebook now, word of it has just exploded."
Turrentine said the roadblocks were part of a study conducted by the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, working with the National Highway Safety Administration. St. Clair County was asked to participate by the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs because it had worked with the group six years ago.
Sheriff Keith Hannah in Bibb County said they too had previously participated in the study.
Here's how the road blocks worked, Turrentine said:
Off-duty St. Clair County deputies stopped cars at random at road block areas. The road blocks were marked with signs stating it was a paid survey. Cars stopped were asked for voluntary cooperation. Drivers were offered $10 for a mouth swab, and $50 for a blood test. If they refused, they were free to drive away.
[ POLL: Would you voluntarily submit DNA, blood sample for government study at roadblock? ]
Road blocks took place Friday at the New London Fire Department, Alabama 34 in Pell City near the old Dan's Car Wash, U.S. 231 at Alabama 144, at White's Chapel Parkway and Moody Crossroads in Moody. In Bibb County, the road blocks took place in five areas in the county on Friday night through early Sunday morning.
If drivers participated, they were directed to an area where someone from the group carrying out the study took the samples, he said.
"It was completely voluntary," Turrentine said, saying reports that people were detained if they did not cooperate were untrue. "If they didn't want to take part, they could drive off."
The samples were anonymous, he said.
Poll: Would you voluntarily submit DNA, blood sample for government study at roadblock?
"They were taking the samples in other parts of the country," he said. "They want to find out of all the people surveyed, how many people were driving with alcohol in their system, or prescription drugs, things like that."
This will be the only time this year the survey takes place in St. Clair County, he said.
Turrentine, who was at one of the roadblocks, said the group carrying out the study would ask for a certain number of volunteers. Deputies would stop drivers until that number of drivers needed agreed to the survey. Then they let cars pass while the samples were taken.
"We would have a lot who didn't want to take part, especially at night," he said. "But then we'd have a few that when we'd tell they could make $60 bucks, they said, 'What do I need to do?'"
If you were stopped in one of the roadblocks, or took part, and would like to talk, email eastalabama@al.com.
Oh wait I just remembered...No I could not have gone another way because they were set up as such that you couldn’t see that there was a cop stopping traffic until you got up to the tollbooth because he stood on the other side of the barrier. I had noticed some cop car lights off to the left side but had no clue of a roadblock until I got up there and the officer was waiting on the other side.
Are you forced to stop and pay at the tollbooth? Don’t they have cameras and time tickets?
The road blocks ironically brought attention to the more pertinent issue of the 3rd party’s involvement with the NHSA, and what the NHSA is hoping to accomplish the DNA data. Too bad this wasn’t the focus of the thread.
Were the tags recorded and associated with the samples? Doubtful.
Could the road blocks have been replaced with unavoidable signs offering 3x times the amount of money given no need for street cops? Yes.
Would folks in this economy voluntary donate for 3x the $$$? Definitely.
If there were no road blocks, would the DNA sampling have made the news? Probably not.
Did the road blocks turn off potential volunteers. Definitely.
There’s room for conspiracy concerns, but the cop, tags, road block angle is off target.
With socialists in power, you do not cooperate with any so called survey or anything else. This is so police state in concept...let no one take your DNA or blood without a warrant. You give this govt. the idea that they can stop people on the road in order to perform a “test”, voluntarily, of course, they will then step it up and stop you and demand that you give them what they want. They’re testing the waters to see how easily we comply. Beware...this govt is evil and devious..know your rights and demand them.
Did anyone just drive through unimpeded? It's a roadBLOCK.
Most people have pic ids with their licenses
We are discussing license plates.
________________________
yes rocket scientist, we are discussing license plates and owner name can be matched to picture in a nanosecond and compared to driver.
No, not even if the money was good. Why would I want to give that information away? 80.02%
Yes, if the money was good and the sample was anonymous. What have I got to worry about? 8.52%
I’d rather not answer. They might be watching. 8.42%
Maybe, but what kind of money are we talking about here? 3%
“Ping me when the ejector seat fires....”
I will.
That's EXACTLY what's happening here. This isn't a survey for an academic institution. It's a roadBLOCK. It's not a "drive thru," it's intended to force drivers to stop and voluntarily provide personal information. People will do ANYTHING for money. This study investigated how many people actually put up a fight or "resist." At which point, they're allowed to go, but the next time there's a roadBLOCK, they'll be said to be "resisting."
How much you want to bet that a majority of samples came from blacks and poor whites?
I contacted our Lee County Sheriff yesterday, regarding this situation. He was unaware. This morning he called me back to thank me. He was on a local radio show and the topic was discussed. I did not hear the interview, but he said he stressed that this would NEVER happen in our county on his watch.
I’ve never heard of an academic study being permitted with law enforcement as a resource. That’s totalitarian shit right there.
I agree it reeks totalitarian! That’s basically what our sheriff said, too.
Teens were also swabbed without
parental permission.
So they volunteered?
Police are throwing up a roadblock,
Were the drivers forced to go through it?
No!
They were if they needed to get to the other side. And dodging a road block does routinely get pork attention.
And why should anyone have to detour or stop?
LOL, yeah!
I agree with your assessment, however, I am confused by the part about ‘we are allowing it to happen’. Even writing and complaining to alleged Congressional representatives probably does no good other than adding your name to yet another database. When everyone’s cell phone and email data is being mined and kept to be scrutinized whenever someone feels like, is anyone any safer? The AG is not willing to do anything about it; he is the one who signed the authorization to tap the AP records are probably the rest of the phone companies data in the first place. The foxes are firmly entrenched in the henhouse and there is not a thing to do about it. When was it that you or for that matter the uninformed voters first noticed that the Constitution was being trampled on?
Where was that stated in the article?
How about passengers, Einstein?
Paranoia is stupid, isn't it?
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