Attention

The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not represent our advertisers

Thursday, May 27, 2010

"Checkpoint Strikeforce"

Law enforcement agencies from throughout Wicomico County will join forces to conduct a sobriety checkpoint. The operation will be conducted with the Five State and the District of Columbia Campaign, "Checkpoint Strikeforce". The goal is to reduce the number of drunk and drugged drivers on Wicomico County roadways.

More to come.....

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

How can the checkpoint reduce the number of drivers under the influence?

The checkpoint can identify and prosecute the ones who are already driving under the influence. But it can't prevent people from driving under the influence.

Anonymous said...

More of our liberties down the drain...

lmclain said...

How can we (American citizens) accept being detained by armed gov't agemts (the police) who stop us in our normal activities (going to the store for milk and bread, perhaps) to SEE IF AN OTHERWISE INNOCENT INDIVIDUAL IS (POSSIBLY) GUILTY OF SOME CRIME??! Please don't give me the "trying to keep the roads safe" line. If that were REALLY true, the penalty for DUI would not be a fine and some AA classes. We are SHEEP and if Jefferson, Adams, Payne, Madison, etc were alive today, we would already be in the midst of a revolution. Next, the police will be "randomly" coming to your house to make sure your guns are locked away safely (until they outlaw guns), make sure your house is fire safe, and there aren't any fugitives hiding in your home. Remember--- those williong to sacrifice security for freedom deserve neither none. We are soon to have neither.

J.Albero said...

anonymous 10:06, WHAT LIBERTIES?

Breaking the LAW is breaking the LAW, period.

Each and every one of you reading this knows damn well, drinking and driving is against the law. Because so many of you IGNORE the law, innocent people are killed.

We employ out law enforcement to protect us to assure criminals, (drunk drivers) stay off the road.

lmclain said...

OUTLAW enforcement??? Thats exactly what I call it, Joe. No one is arguing that drunk drivers be allowed to drive....many people are just angry that the police get to stop innocent people to look for possible crimes...and they don't always just get DUI arrests either. THATS the "freedom" that is being threatened, Joe.

J.Albero said...

lmclain,

Then demand our legislators change the language of the Checkpoints to only allow DUI/DWI arrests during these stops. It's that simple.

Anonymous said...

Drinking and Driving is wrong but thr bigger picture is money. Most law enforcers will tell you the same thing.

lmclain said...

Further, since we employ outlaw enforcement to insure (not "assure") criminals don't commit crimes, you wouldn't have any problem with a few police just "stopping by" tonight at your house to just make sure you were not having a card game at your house for a few dollars a hand (illegal), tabulating the results of your companys football pool for the $1000 prize (illegal), or having that loaded rifle next to your bed (illegal---supposed to be locked up), or god forbid, you had terminal cancer and were smoking a joint in you living room....because, you know, the police are there for law enforcement. This is slippery slope and we are sliding down it FAST.

Anonymous said...

If I am driving safely (whether drunk or not) then the police have no right to stop me and search my body.

Period.

It is an illegal search.

They cannot stop me to see "if" I am violating one of their statutes.

Anonymous said...

most dui/dwi offenders are repeat offenders. i say hang them after the first try! sell their assets and keep money for further enforcement

lmclain said...

Joe, would that be like demanding our legislators not pass an outraegous health care bill?? It's that simple, huh? I KNOW they listen to what citizens demand...I'm gonna start working on that right away....secondly, changing the language of the "checkpoint law" would NOT solve my complaints about the very checkpoints themselves.... CHECKPOINTS??? as in NAZI checkpoints? I can buy heroin or crack or gun in this town 24 hrs a day.....instead of making sure I'm NOT comitting a crime (or NOT wearing my seat belt (LOL), why arent't the police walking the beat to stop THAT stuff??? They are afraid. its easier to fine people (indirect taxes) for traffic offenses...And for the record, I don't drink and my driving record is EXCELLENT, so I don't have personal beef here....its about government intrusion.

Anonymous said...

Doesn't this go back to "driving is a privilege not a right"?

Anonymous said...

Stop people who are breaking the law and if it is DUI/DWI arrest them. But leave people who want their freedom and privacy to travel to a store, mall, on on the way home from an out of town kid's ballgame (could be late before you get home sometimes) alone. Get a couple of days off and get hassled on the way home from the movies, great!

Evan Stone said...

Imclain I believe the word is "ensure" genius.

lmclain said...

anonymous --- "priviledge" is NOT the question here...however, it IS my RIGHT to be free from
'unreasonable" searches (try reading that document called the Bill of Rights"), and if I am doing nothing wrong (not speeding, not weaving, not running off the road) etc.)then stopping me to search for evidence of possible ---POSSIBLE!!---crimes is, to my mind, VERY unreasonable..... And make no mistake here....when the police stop you at a checkpoint, they are not just checking to see if you are drinking and driving...they are running checks for outstanding warrants, looking around in your car for criminal evidence, questioning your passengers, etc. That is okay with you, apparently. So as I said in a previous post, if you're okay with that, then you should be okay with the police coming by your house, say, at 2AM, to just "look around' to see if maybe you aren't breaking the law in some way. I would like to see ALL DUI convictions result in mandantory 90 day jail sentence, loss of license for 6 months and minimum $1000 fine. First offense. Second offense? 1 year in jail. instead, LAWYERS are getting rich, governments are making big money, people are dying, and DUI drivers keep driving. Just stop a blanket search of innocent citizens to find the criminals....You can't see how wrong that is in a democracy??? You are being brainwashed by a government (and their lackeys) to believe that violating the rights of innocent people is okay as long as a bad guy get his due....Stalin, Mao, and Adolf are very proud of you and are in hell now clapping at our stupidity.....

Anonymous said...

Anon 9:45 asked how a strike force can reduce the number is drivers under the influence. If you know there's going to be check points all around are you going to even take the chance of drinking and driving? I would think not.

Anonymous said...

If there had been a DWI checkpoint, perhaps the last person killed by a drunk driver would have made it home. If a DWI pulls one drunk driver off the road, that's one more life that has been saved. Only those who have lost a loved one to a drunk driver can make a truthful comment on this.

Anonymous said...

I've never had a problem with checkpoints, but a few nights ago I was pulled over coming home from work at 3 AM because a cops license plate camera automatically read my license plate and it popped up that the person who co-signed for my car has a suspended license. I was driving, doing absolutely nothing wrong, and was pulled over and detained 20 minutes anyway. How many more times is this going to happen to me during the next 90 days while that person's license is suspended?

lmclain said...

So, what I'm seeing here from a select few is the complete validation of the quote I used earlier ----"those who are willing to sacrifice freedom for security deserve neither one". The very sad part is those people cannot even see how pathetic that attitude is ....."my brother, friend, dad (whatever) was killed by a drunk driver, so if the government has to stop every person in the country to find a drunk driver, I'm okay with that."...WHAT??? If your friend was killed by a heroin addict in a robbery, would you advocate the police stopping all citizens (including YOU) to check to see if they were carrying a concealed handgun? or perhaps some heroin? Even if you were just walking to the library with your children??? Quit carrying your personal tragedy around and using it to justify the erosion of EVERYONE"S civil liberties. Read some history. Read the Constitution. And if you want to get really upset, read the Patriot Act. Checkpoints are not the only thing citizens shoud be thinking about....

lmclain said...

evan stone...thx for the correction...I actually knew the proper usage of that word, just failed to do it in my agitated state...lol...I am appropriately embarrassed....and not a genius, but fairly close....

Anonymous said...

Seems like Roving patrols would work better than a stationary check point. Get officers out there on the road instead of standing around. Not sure if this link worked sorry. www.abionline.org/roving_patrols.cfm

Anonymous said...

yeah they got time to stop the average citizens going about their daily lives looking for law breakers. But they don't have time to pick up the felons that are breaking our laws by being here illegally !
got to love this government!