The last Monday in May is a time for barbecues, baseball, and intense DUI enforcement. This intense enforcement usually involves STEP patrols or sobriety checkpoints.
Sobriety STEP (Selective Traffic Enforcement Plan) patrols are essentially “all hands on deck” enforcement campaigns. Law enforcement supervisors send officers to a certain part of town and instruct them to make as many DUI arrests as possible. These arrests often don’t hold up in court. The pressure to make arrests causes officers to take shortcuts, either procedurally or in terms of evidence.
Sobriety checkpoints, which the Supreme Court legalized in the 1990s, are even more troublesome. STEP patrol officers may legally use their professional experience and their “guts” to detain suspicious motorists. But sobriety checkpoints must follow rigid rules. More on that below.
DUI roadblocks often significantly increase the number of DUI arrests. But if law enforcement officers don’t strictly follow the rules, a Marietta criminal defense lawyer can get the case thrown out of court. Alternatively, a lawyer uses rules violations to negotiate a favorable plea bargain agreement, such as a plea to reckless driving. Either outcome means the defendant avoids the harsh direct and indirect consequences of a DUI conviction.
High-Level Authorization
Usually, supervisors don’t micromanage STEP patrol officers. As long as these officers remain in the target area (e.g. west Marietta), they can largely go where they want.
DUI checkpoints are much different. A high-level supervisor must authorize a specific checkpoint. With a few exceptions, this authorization must include specific rules for the checkpoint, such as location and hours of operation.
Usually, the supervisor must be a person who’s accountable to the public, such as a county sheriff or police chief. Captains and other such lower echelon supervisors are acceptable in some cases. Sergeants and corporals definitely aren’t supervisors in this context, although these individuals have authority over subordinates.
Pre-Checkpoint Publicity
In many ways, a DUI checkpoint is a travel hazard, like a traffic accident or broken guardrail. Municipalities must give drivers fair notice of these hazards, so they may avoid them if possible.
Likewise, motorists must know when and where checkpoints will operate, so they may avoid the area altogether if they want. This the law enforcement agency must give lots of people fair notice.
No hard and fast rules apply. A Facebook post might constitute mass notice. That’s especially true if, as is often the case, at least one mass media outlet published a story about the checkpoint (e.g. officers announced that a checkpoint will be in place at this place and at this time).
Speaking of time, as a rule of thumb, officers must publish that Facebook post at least twenty-four hours before kickoff.
Clear Visibility
According to popular myth, a DUI roadblock is a speed trap. That’s not true, for several reasons, including visibility. Speed traps are invisible. That’s why they call them “traps.” DUI roadblocks must be clearly visible.
First, signs must convey the nature of the detention (“DUI Checkpoint Ahead”) and give general instructions (“Have Drivers’ License and Proof of Insurance Ready”). These instructions relate to another Constitutional right, which is examined below.
Second, visible checkpoints are safe checkpoints. Speed trap safety doesn’t matter. DUI checkpoint safety matters. Drivers stop, seemingly for no reason. So, officers must deploy traffic cones or other such obstacles well ahead of the actual checkpoint, so motorists slow down.
Third, the checkpoint must be visible so motorists may turn around and avoid it. Officers immediately assume that U-turners are probably drunk drivers. So, a patrol car will probably tail these drivers for at least several blocks. However, the tailing officer must have reasonable suspicion, which is basically an evidence-based hunch, to pull over the motorist.
Limited Detention Time
Once again, no hard and fast rules apply in this area. What is certain is that compliant checkpoints only give officers limited Fourth Amendment immunity. Therefore, if drivers must wait in the checkout line longer than about thirty seconds, that’s too long.
Officers have some limited operational discretion in this area. They can change the formula to speed up the line. For example, instead of stopping every third vehicle, they may switch to every fourth or fifth vehicle. Then, once the line disappears, they must go back to the original formula, since that formula was the one a supervisor approved.
The formula must remain neutral. Random checkpoints aren’t random. Officers cannot stop certain motorists because they don’t look right and wave others through,
Incidentally, DUI checkpoints must target likely DUI suspects. A checkpoint in a mostly white area (since most DUI defendants are white) during the Memorial Day holiday is a legitimate checkpoint. A roadblock in a mostly nonwhite area is probably an illegal pretext checkpoint. That’s especially true if officers make a number of non-DUI arrests for drug possession and other unrelated offenses.
Respect for Constitutional Rights
We mentioned limited Fourth Amendment immunity above. DUI checkpoints limit search and seizure protections, but they don’t limit Fifth Amendment protections, specifically the right to remain silent.
Therefore, during checkpoint detentions, motorists don’t have to answer any questions. In fact, they don’t have to roll down their windows, as long as they produce the requested documents for inspection and comply with other basic commands.
Once again, officers will assume these motorists have something to hide, and a patrol car will follow them. So, if you assert this constitutional right, be prepared to pay the price and undergo some additional scrutiny.
DUI roadblocks and only legal in limited situations. For a free consultation with an experienced criminal defense attorney in Marietta, contact the Phillips Law Firm, LLC. Virtual, home, and jail visits are available.
