This Union Tribune article says that DUI checkpoints will increase in Escondido, an area in North County. The Escondido police department plan to have 12 DUI checkpoints as opposed to 9 which have been set up in the past couple years. According to traffic Sgt. Dana Ray, the department has made 69 DUI arrests in the past two years. I don’t know about you, but 69 arrests doesn’t seem like much considering that there were probably so many more people out there who did drink and drive but didn’t get caught.
I often wonder if sobriety checkpoints are truly effective. The Fourth Amendment comes to mind which is the amendment that guards against unreasonable searches and seizures. Some would say that checkpoints are not unreasonable considering that they help protect the roads and highways while others feel that checkpoints violate our privacy.
Looking at the Fourth Amendment from another perspective…What if the police came knocking at your door every weekend wanting to search your home to make sure you weren’t harboring criminals? Wouldn’t you feel violated? Wouldn’t you want a search warrant? What makes searching cars any different?
I believe that education is the key to prevent drunk driving, in addition to offering more help and counseling for repeat drunk drivers.
What do you think?
Here’s another article of interest: Legality of Sobriety Checkpoints
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