State troopers, sheriff's deputies and local police will conduct traffic checkpoints in Accomack County for the next five nights to help find the arson or arsonists who started 64 fires in the county since November.
Uniformed law enforcement personnel will be on patrol and conducting informational gathering checkpoints at random locations around the county. On Friday night, 140 law enforcement officers conducted five checkpoints. WAVY.com has learned those checkpoints will be staffed until 1 a.m.
Troopers will be handing out fliers featuring the McCormack County Arson Tip Line and reward information, as well as soliciting any information or concerns motorists may have concerning the fires, said State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller.
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13 comments:
Why would they release this information? Advertising the checkpoint closing time is a real bonus.
its the stupidest tactic I have ever heard of. It will gain nothing but an inconvenience to travelers.
I wonder how often this is going to start occuring? They will not catch this guy with a check point. Just another bullsh** excuse to stop innocent people without probable cause.
Maybe that was'nt the exact closing time.
Ok. Why don't they go get some of these hunting cameras that the hunters use to see if there is any deer activity in the place they want to hunt . put them around a couple of old places that fits the targets of this guy. you never know you may get lucky and catch him on camera.I'm just thinking out loud.
Illegal. They can't stop people over this..
9:33 That is what I was thinking.
I went through one of the checkpoints last night at 3 AM.They checked my trunk and inside my car.I was just passing through,returning from Cape Charles.
Agreed 9:33!
The just call it an information campaign. They're not looking or actually performing illegal searches or surveillance. No... they wouldn't do that.
NOT!
Scenario: [Soccer mom who's kid dropped a sandwich baggie from lunch under the back seat. GUNS out! Screaming WE GOT POWDER! HANDS UP HANDS UP! DOWN ON THE GROUND B*#CH! 180 LB vindictive cop WITH HIS KNEE IN YOUR BACK deliberately slamming your face into the dirt or pavement, for a smudge of dried mayonnaise in a ziplock.]
It happens.
What arsonist?
The 4th amendment doesn't stop DUI checkpoints. So then why would it stop arson checkpoints, illegal weapons checkpoints, or anything else that can be dreamed up. It is after all for your safety.
All they had to do was do ROVING CK points UNANNOUNCED.Morons.
Are these checkpoints legal?
"the courts have said that checkpoints are legal, under the guidelines that the reason they stop you is for regulatory purposes such as checking for insurance and things of that nature," says attorney Tom Walsh.
Officers also check your registration and driver's license. They also make sure you're wearing a seatbelt. But, where does the law draw the line?
"the fourth amendment bans illegal searches and seizures or searches and seizures without probable cause," says Walsh.
Attorney Tom Walsh believes police sometimes cross that line. When that happens, he says it becomes your word against the officers.
"officers may say that they smell marijuana or they smell or detect the odor of alcohol and then that leads to them actually being able to search the car," says the attorney.
You have the right to turn to avoid a checkpoint, so long as the turn itself violates no provision of law. The driver at the Bethlehem DUI checkpoint I attended as an observer turned erratically onto a side street, giving police a reason (some might say an excuse) to pull him over. As it turned out, he had not been drinking, but was cited for a suspended license.
I did not witness the turn, but police had told me in advance that they are not allowed to pursue motorists who turn when approaching a checkpoint on the mere suspicion they might be doing so because they'd been drinking too much or otherwise were breaking the law. Based on that, I bought the dangerous-turn explanation, though there's no sure way to know the reason for the chase.
A state police trooper once told me in confidence, "If we really want to pull someone over, we can find a way," meaning they can come up with a reason that has a good chance of withstanding legal scrutiny. I don't doubt that he's right. An officer insists you drifted over the double-yellow line; you swear you didn't; whom will the judge believe?
Still, in an objective, legal sense, turning onto a side road in advance of a DUI checkpoint, or even making a legally executed U-turn, is within bounds.
"A motorist can't be pulled over by police for turning away from a checkpoint in what could be perceived as an attempt to avoid the checkpoint," Renee Smith, Lehigh County chief deputy district attorney, wrote in an e-mail. "The mere making of the turn, if legal, can't form the basis for a stop. Case law is clear on that."
Oh. The law. The police always obey that. The police know that they operate under what's know as the "color of right", meaning WHATEVER they do is FIRST considered to be correct, right, and legal. Its up to the citizen to PROVE otherwise. A standard almost impossible to meet, even with video evidence. And judges ALWAYS give the police the benefit of the doubt. Further, how in the hell did we get to the point where it was considered LEGAL to stop INNOCENT citizens at gun point, just to "check them out"? So many of you cheered like football fans when those Nazi DUI "checkpoints" were instituted, because not only did the police PROMISE it would only be for drunk driver apprehension, but you had a personal vendetta. The door was opened. And now they are CRASHING THROUGH IT. Door to door, house to house searches are next. Don't think so? You are naive. You never thought drones would be flying over us, either, huh? Or that Homeland Security would have a NATIONAL "checkpoint " program, stop or die? Innocent until proven guilty, a REASON for a search, and being secure in your person and papers? Gone. Keep cheering. Right up to the point where YOU get marched at gunpoint. Don't say THAT'S never happened, or can't happen again, because you would openly reveal your ignorance and stupidity.
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