Posted on 11/19/2013 6:55:25 PM PST by markomalley
Dozens of Texas drivers have been stopped at a police road block, where they were then directed into a parking lot and forced into surrendering blood, saliva and breath samples in a study that has upset civil liberties advocates.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration admitted it was attempting to conduct a government study meant to determine the number of drunk or drug-impaired drivers on the road at any given time.
“It just doesn’t seem right that you can be forced off the road when you’re not doing anything wrong,” Kim Cope, who said she was forced to the side of the road while making her way to lunch, told NBCDFW.com. “I gestured to the guy in front that I just wanted to go straight, but he wouldn’t let me and forced me into the parking spot.”
The tests were made even more mysterious when reporters, alerted to the situation by concerned drivers, were unable to find any officers in the Fort Worth Police Department who had been involved. The NHTSA only admitted its involvement after local media sought answers.
The department, which says its mission is to “save lives, prevent injuries, and reduce vehicle-related crashes,” maintains that participation in the research was completely voluntary. But Ms. Cope said she felt trapped during what seemed to be an investigation.
“I finally did the breathalyzer test just because I thought it would be the easiest way to leave,” she said. “It just doesn’t seem right that they should be able to do any of it. If it’s voluntary, it’s voluntary, and none of it felt voluntary.”
When pressed, the FWPD said it was “reviewing the actions of all police personnel involved to ensure that FWPD policies and procedures were followed.” The NBC affiliate was able to determine that the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, a government contractor, was hired to conduct the check.
An NHTSA spokesperson admitted similar programs were being conducted in 30 other cities throughout the US.
But civil liberties attorney Frank Colosi does not accept the rationale.
“You can’t just be pulled over randomly or for no reason,” he said. “They’re essentially lying to you when they say it’s completely voluntary, because they’re testing you at that moment.”
He added that drivers who refused may have been targeted by police for inadvertently giving the impression they were operating a vehicle under the influence. He also told NBC that fine print on the form told drivers their breath was being tested by “passive alcohol sensor readings before the consent process has been completed.”
This oddity comes just months after Texas state troopers were caught on video conducting vaginal and cavity searches on female drivers at the side of the road. The videos quickly went viral, and attorneys for the women filed federal lawsuits against the troopers.
“It’s ridiculous,” Peter Schulte, a former Texas police officer and prosecutor, told the New York Daily News earlier this year. “I was a law enforcement officer for 16 years and I never saw anything like it.”
If you aren’t outraged by this, you are part of the problem, collabo!
So is the 5th.
Good for Alabama.
Unless we PUSH BACK on all attempts to infringe upon our freedom, WE WILL BECOME Mexico or Saudi Arabia sooner or later.
How do you propose to "PUSH BACK"?
Who exactly is pushing back on your freedom? What AREN'T you free to do?
If you really think that sooner or later we will become Mexcio or Saudi Arabia for ANY reason, then you really HAVEN'T lived (not traveled--LIVED) in third world countries.
You show your ignorance when you say those places don't have constitutions. THEY DO. The difference is that we LIVE by the law of our land. They don't.
When I VISITED Mexico I read their lovely constitution. It reads BEAUTIFULLY. They don't follow it.
I don't think Saudi Arabia has a constitution. They go by Muslim law.
Constitutions are EASY to write. They aren't easy to follow as the law of the land. We may not follow the constitution to YOUR liking and standards, but we ARE the best country in the world BECAUSE we follow OUR constitution better than those 3rd world pit holes.
You know what I meant. You ARE lucky to live here. Live in some 3rd world hell hole with its lovely constitution that ISN'T followed. Maybe it wasn't luck; maybe it was God's will that you were born here. I know that I am ETERNALLY grateful to our good Lord for allowing me to be born here.
I know our constitution came with a cost. My dad fought in North Africa against Rommel. He ended up in Anzio. I know the cost.
I'm glad you did say "a cop." If you don't report the bad cop then you are doing us all a disfavor. I've never had to report a bad cop because I never personally encountered one.
There are certainly bad cops in this country. Training cops is the job of the local academy. They are only as good as their city/state government makes them be.
You’re joking right? That has to be the most idiotic thing I’ve seen in a long while here.
It can't come from "collaborator" as that word is "colaborador."
America is the best place despite its rapid decline.
Unless we push back on crap like this it won’t be the best place much longer.
In the original article, people were detained by police, and given the impression that they were required to give DNA and other bodily fluids before proceeding.
Any attempt by any government employee to detain a citizen "under color of law", in circumstances where they have no legal right to do so, should be responded to with a civil rights lawsuit. Any police officer associated with such an operation should face suspension without pay.
Unless we push back on crap like this it won’t be the best place much longer.
Again, I ask: how are we to push back?
Do you ACTUALLY think that our country isn't going to be the BEST PLACE IN THE WORLD because of a some fools like Obama? Our country has survived MUCH worse than Obama.
What EXACTLY is the "crap" you object to so much?
That is a specific question. What in your life is so crappy because of our POTUS?
There is no need for the personal attack, is there?
A government will only feel compelled to follow a constitution to the extent that the people MAKE IT follow the constitution, and enforce penalties against those who dare to violate it.
I would hope that any good citizen, after being subjected to this insanity, WOULD respond with a civil rights lawsuit.
ANY police office with such an operation SHOULD face suspension without pay. I never said otherwise.
I’ve read through your posts on this thread and find your position to be thoroughly disgusting.
Americans don’t need to live in another country to disagree with our governments actions. America sets the standard and most of the world wants to be like America. People like you bring the worst of other countries to America. You ridicule people who understand the governments power comes from the people. A free people don’t need to justify their outrage at an intrusive and unconstitutional event such as this.
Period
I know that. It's too bad that more folks DON'T use their vote to bring in better politicians.
We don't need more laws. We only have to enforce the ones we have.
You seem like a good person, why don't YOU run for office? We need better folks in the government, why don't you run? I thought about it when I was young...for about five seconds.
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