Local police await checkpoint
ruling
By Heather Mangold
City
Editor
Local police officials would reinstate random sobriety
checkpoints on local roads if ruled constitutional by the Indiana Supreme
Court.
Recently, the Indiana Court of Appeals put a stop
to sobriety checkpoints saying that they were unconstitutional according
to the Indiana Constitution.
Corp. Scott Brown of the Indiana State Police said
the Indiana State Constitution mirrors the federal Constitution, but
a local judge interpreted them differently.
Brown said the State Police Department would suspend
sobriety checkpoint efforts until the court has made its decision and
that the department is awaiting an appeal from the attorney general's
office.
"If it's overturned by Indiana's Supreme Court,
we will start our efforts again as far as utilizing checkpoints," said
Brown.
Brown said the risks of fatalities caused by drunken
driving largely outweigh the slight implications on a citizen's Fourth
Amendment rights. The Fourth Amendment provides protection from unreasonable
search and seizure.
Capt. Michael Francis of the West Lafayette Police,
said that his department will support whatever the Indiana Court of
Appeals decides.
He said that in the past, West Lafayette police
have used the checkpoints as tools to get drunken drivers off the road.
"Our numbers indicate that these efforts have been
successful," said Francis. "Not only do you look at intoxicated drivers,
but at users of dangerous drugs as well."
Brown said that police are put on the streets in
larger numbers during big events and in areas where many drunken driving
accidents have occurred.
"We certainly try to have them when there are great
events going on, for example Purdue's Grand Prix," said Brown.
Brown said checkpoints are set up in a random nature.
"They have to be random," said Brown. "In the sense
that every second car, every car or every tenth car is stopped."
Brown said that the locations of roadblocks depend
on where the checkpoint is set up.
Another measure that local police are taking to
keep streets safe is the enforcement of Operation Pull Over. The West
Lafayette and Lafayette police departments will participate.
Operation Pull Over is a program sponsored by the
Governor's Council on Impaired and Dangerous Drivers. It is aimed at
getting additional police officers on Indiana roadways in an effort
to stop the dangerous or impaired driver from traveling on the roads.
According to a press release, the police, along
with 180 other law enforcement agencies across the state, will have
officers working additional shifts and during regular days off to enforce
traffic laws.
Drivers should expect to see increased patrols
between Feb. 25 and March 10.
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