Dear Red Phone,
Checkpoints are illegal…don’t stop…ask if you can go on your way or ask if they’re detaining you.
Signed,
Skeptic
Dear Skeptic,
Chris Cochran, assistant director of Marketing and Public Affairs with the California Office of Traffic Safety, sheds some light on this:
“The legality of DUI checkpoints made it all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court. In a 1990 decision they were found to be a reasonable exception to the Fourth Amendment and were therefore found to be legal. In the same ruling and in subsequent rulings by them and other courts, there have been various guidelines, restrictions and suggestions on how they should be run.”
While some other states have constitutions outlawing checkpoints, that’s not the case in California, according to Cochran.
When it comes to the question of whether someone should stop at a checkpoint, Cochran says it’s up to the individual on how they want to conduct themselves.
“Most of the time nowadays, police departments are well-trained enough and sophisticated enough to know what it is people are attempting to do when they undertake those types of tactics and react accordingly,” Cochran said. “If (police) aren’t able to get even an indication of the purpose for which the checkpoint has been set up – which is to check for impairment – they may take further action and do tests if they have a reasonable suspicion that someone is under the influence. All of that is an on-the-spot type of decision that has to be made by the officers according to what’s happening right then and there. It could be anything from waving (the driver) through to asking them to pull off to the side.”
Under Fifth Amendment rights, you don’t have to answer any questions if you don’t want to, Cochran added.
However, if an officer believes he/she has probable cause of a crime or DUI, they can request that you pull out of line for further questioning, field sobriety or blood alcohol testing. Each layer of requesting and refusal carries both risks to the citizen and requirements for the officers, he explained.
For instance, if arrested for DUI and a driver refuses to be tested, he or she can face automatic drivers license suspension. On the other side, the police must be able to prove in court that there was probable cause for each action they take.
