5 DWI Arrests Made After Sobriety Checkpoint in Arnold
The Jefferson County Sheriff's Department likely will concentrate future checkpoints on smaller, county roads.
A sobriety checkpoint staffed by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department Wednesday night on Seckman Road in Arnold stopped 150 vehicles and netted five DWI arrests and seven other arrests on drivers who were operating their vehicles on a suspended or revoked license, according to Lt. Dave Marshack.
Marshack said it was an effective checkpoint and helped in at least five cases to get some intoxicated drivers off the road.
"I don't think (motorists) expected to see us on a Wednesday night on a county road," Marshack said.
The smaller checkpoint required 11 officers to operate, half the cost and manpower of other, larger checkpoints.
Although the sheriff's department had surprise on its side by not announcing the location of the checkpoint in advance, Marshack said the word is spread routinely through such social media tools as Facebook and Twitter.
"We've had to change our strategy to keep up with the times," he said, adding that the location of sobriety checkpoints also will change.
"In the future you can expect to see us on other county roads," he said.
As Patch reported on Feb. 13, a checkpoint also is scheduled for Eureka on March 1.
Larry Bush
2:22 pm on Friday, February 22, 2013
Have you been drinking tonight sir? No. Do you have any drugs in the car? No. Do you have any Christians or Jews? More rights being taken away everyday.
Timber
11:11 pm on Monday, February 25, 2013
You give away your right when you voluntarily answer their questions. Don't answer any questions. Simple.
Paul Jackson
3:54 pm on Friday, February 22, 2013
Yes, my heart just breaks that people can't drink or do drugs and drive around. Truly a tragedy. Who is standing up for Larry's right to drink and drive?
Brian
8:42 pm on Friday, February 22, 2013
@Mr. Jackson: What Mr. Bush is standing up for is the right to traverse public roads without having to answer to who we are, where we came from, where we're going and why. The police stopped 150 vehicles that they had no reasonable suspicion of breaking a law to catch 5 impaired drivers. If drunk drivers caused so many accidents, wouldn't poor, accident-prone driving habits reveal their impaired condition to our men in brown? These checkpoints don't necessarily make us safer, but we are certainly having our freedom restricted. Too often knee-jerk solutions require us to trade genuine liberty for the illusion of safety, similar to the TSA at airports, train stations and on our interstates.
Al Mount
6:47 am on Saturday, February 23, 2013
Well stated Brian.