How many cops does it take to bust a drunk driver? A whole lot of ‘em if they’re running a checkpoint.
Last month we asked Chief Michael Sellers a few questions on recent DUI checkpoints in Fullerton. The stats that we got back lead to the conclusion that DUI checkpoints are just a handy bonus program for Fullerton cops, with little effect on public safety.
Back in March the Fullerton PD ran a 6 hour DUI checkpoint which employed sixteen police officers, each of them earning overtime pay — that’s 150% of their normal wage. At the end of the night, the police had nabbed only four motorists for driving under the influence. The city also impounded a dozen cars from unlicensed drivers, but that’s a whole different shakedown.
Just stand here?
While hundreds of law-abiding drivers were being forced to stop and produce identification, patrons at downtown bars were spreading the word… intoxicated drivers should drive around the checkpoint on the way home.
So what is Chief Sellers’ excuse for such a blatant handout to his boys in blue?
Those guys made me do it.
The checkpoints are funded by state grants, says Sellers, as if that justifies any ‘ol squanderance that public employees can dream up. Around here, we call that “passing the buck”. It’s still our money, Chief, and we don’t want to fund overtime for your officers if they can’t be effective.
No local program should operate just because the state says it can. This is California, after all — a state renowned for it’s fiscal irresponsibility and zealous over-governance. Sixteen public safety employees on overtime without any significant accomplishments might slide under the radar in Sacramento, but we have higher expectations of our local agencies.
There will be another DUI checkpoint on tonight along Commonwealth in downtown Fullerton.
#1 by Chris Thompson on May 5, 2010
Playing a shell game with public funds seems to satisfy Joe Citizen. Until there is not enough money left to buy the shells.
#2 by SauceBrick on May 5, 2010
It’s true that word of the DUI checkpoints spreads around the bars very quickly. Nobody stops drinking, but they do choose a different route home.
#3 by Joe Sipowicz on May 5, 2010
Seems like it would just be cheaper to set up the checkpoint outside the bar. As the drunks wander out of the bars, tag ‘em and bag ‘em.
#4 by Admiral on May 5, 2010
How are these things still considered legal and constitutionally acceptable? Papers, please.
#5 by Greg on May 5, 2010
If the PD and the community are serious about drunk driving, post breathalizers at all of the parking lot exits. No Blow, No Go, No Way.
That would be a good start that I think I heard first from a commentator regarding the downtown booze-doggle.
#6 by 21 Jump Street on May 5, 2010
In 1990 the Supreme Court narrowly ruled that DUI checkpoints were only a minor infringement on the right to be free from “unreasonable searches and seizures.”
Checkpoints set up with the sole purpose of paying officers overtime and impounding vehicles for cash, however, are not constitutionally protected. The city of Escondido is dealing with this issue right now.
http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/escondido/article_0ee24b19-f71a-5a3f-bf03-96505362bf33.html
#7 by Rain on May 5, 2010
Public employees’ unions have corrupted the processes of local government (e.g. school teachers “teach” Leftist propaganda and social deviance, not necessarily because all of them believe it, but rather to ensure continuance of their huge financial over-compensation for the small “price” of selling their souls.
The police and fire employees are vastly more over compensated for their jobs, which similarly would not receive even half of the pay rates, except for the fact that it is a vicious cycle of money flows from the union members back to the (union member self-serving politicians) on the other side of the “bargaining” table.
This sad state of affairs is the triumph of the Democrat-Communist Party in America which must merely get over 50% of the population fully beholden to – dependent upon – government largess in order to overwhelm and smother this nation, as the last bastion of limited government freedom on earth.
I can readily see how simple it was to get the “girls” (i.e. irresponsible divorcee “single-moms” and newly “educated” anti-man Feminists and homosexual males of the Teachers Unions) to sell out our freedoms, but the policemen and firemen used to be nearly 100% actual former military service members, who learned the idealistic manner of citizenship and selfless national (i.e. community) service “under fire.”
This situation cannot change in the Anti-Man culture which has grown up around the victim mentality which needed to characterize men as brutes in order to provide “credibility” to the “masses” of oppressed females and “other” minorities of the Democrat-Communist Party political base.
The only ones who might ever wake up to their own culcability are the “male” cops and fire service employees (I don’t use the word men so loosely as I did in days gone by).
#8 by Christian on May 5, 2010
Rain,
Based on what you said above, what is your take on the Corey Allen (sp?) demotion with the Fullerton Fire Department? I don’t know all the facts but it was brought up at last night’s council meeting and sounded like something that should be publicly vetted. Is she a victim our a culprit?
#9 by nipsey on May 6, 2010
Rain, oh Rain. You got a couple of points right, and thanks for that, but you’re still a nut.
Ole!
#10 by Curmudgeon on May 5, 2010
Were those dozen unlicensed drivers turned over to ICE?
#11 by Johnny Donut on May 5, 2010
Very unlikely. That doesn’t bring in any dough for the city. They prefer to just impound the cars.
#12 by Greg on May 5, 2010
If they were booked through OC Jail, ICE would have direct access.
#13 by Johnny Donut on May 5, 2010
I’m pretty sure they don’t get booked for driving without a license. It’s just a citation and a vehicle impound.
#14 by Greg on May 5, 2010
Johnny,
If a person is stopped and they have no ID and the officer is issuing a ticket, the officer will take them into custody pending their positive identification. Some cities take them directly to OC Jail to be ID’d others do it in-house.
#15 by van get it da artiste on May 5, 2010
instead of paying cops overtime to check for drunk drivers, why not take this grant money and stimulate the private sector by paying taxis to drive drunks home. It would really be a fullerton collaborative with a warm fuzzy feel to it. FPD or city o fullerton wouldn’t profit from this but it would make our streets safer.
#16 by Christian on May 5, 2010
Hey van, you get the good idea award for the day! Adding to your idea, bill the bartenders who overserve drunks for their cab rides home.
#17 by DRUNK IN PUBLIC on May 5, 2010
I would take a cab home, but I’d get a parking ticket if I left my car in downtown Fullerton. You have to calculate your risks, see?
#18 by Greg on May 5, 2010
Say WHAT?!?! You can’t leave a car there overnight? What’s a drunk to do?
I suppose the law might be geared to stop overnight campers or people who just have to many cars and no place to park them. But it does raise a valid point.
#19 by Johnny Donut on May 5, 2010
Greg, you heard it right. The overnight parking ban contributes to the drunk driving problem in Fullerton.
Ultimately there is nobody to blame but the drunk drivers themselves, but since the city insists on spreading the guilt around to third parties, they might as well own a little bit of it themselves.
#20 by Greg on May 5, 2010
Ok, how about a bar-owners-paid valet service between 8PM and 2PM wherein patrons have to blow to get their car. Any cars not picked up in XXX time have to pay $XX. The drunks end up paying a small fee, maybe $10 or $20, the drunks don’t get their cars until they blow under a 0.08 BAC, money raised goes to offset the cost of the valet.
#21 by Everybody Hates on May 5, 2010
So now we can all get a piece of the action.
Liberals should despise DUI checkpoints because they violate our civil rights
Conservatives should despise DUI checkpoints because they are a waste of money
Libertarians are already on board.
So why are we still running these things?
#22 by Greg on May 5, 2010
MAD and those who make $$$ on overtime.
#23 by Travis on May 5, 2010
MADD should be pissed that drunks are driving all over town while most of the police force is standing around on a single block trying to impound cars for cash.
#24 by Gilligan on May 5, 2010
I remember watching a council meeting recently where MADD gave out some awards to several FPD officers and I remember that FPD had more more DUI arrest than any other OC police department except the CHP last year. Your right the drunks are all over town. It’s great to have such a fabulous downtown.
#25 by Travis on May 5, 2010
That’s great, Gilligan. Obviously they weren’t earning any high scores at the checkpoints.
#26 by Gilligan on May 5, 2010
Your comment was MADD should be pissed but I think they’re pleased with Fullerton’s efforts in removing drunk drivers from the roads. It’s a shame that you have such hatred towards the police with all your slanted and negative remarks. Most are pretty decent people.
#27 by Travis on May 5, 2010
I don’t hate cops at all. I’m just not afraid to call out bad policy.
#28 by Krusty on May 6, 2010
Bad policy ? What policy… The police department applies for a grant to the state and it is approved or not. Cities across the county and state do it every year.How many drunk drivers have these check points taken off the road,evidently not enough for you. I think uou would be singing a different tune if some one you cared about were killed.
#29 by Travis on May 6, 2010
Just like I said, Krusty. The state made him do it.
Ignore the waste of paying 16 cops overtime to stand around and process one DUI every hour and half.
Ignore the hundreds of innocent motorists and passengers who are stopped and questioned without cause.
Ignore the drunk drivers scurrying around the rest of the city, avoiding your checkpoint.
Face it, the case for DUI checkpoints are built on emotional pleas to fatten the wallets of public safety employees. They are ineffective and wrong.
#30 by Greg on May 6, 2010
Krusty-
You are probably right about the death of loved ones creating a heightened sense of awareness about DUIs. Emotions aside and policy before us, how effective are they and at what expense? It would be far more valuable to have each of the sixteen cops waiting outside of the bars to nail the DUIs as they drive off the lot. That’s where the PD could make a huge impact. Plus they could observe the drivers stumbling to their cars. I would be willing to bet that each cop would catch at least one DUI each night. That’s 16 DUIs instead of 4! We have to look at sound policy that benefits the community without burdening our tax dollars.
#31 by Farsical on May 6, 2010
You guys should go down to the next DUI checkpoint and visit for a while. You will see a lot of cops standing around, drinking coffee and chatting with each other.
The fact that they are all on overtime is just icing on the cake.
#32 by Greg on May 6, 2010
I think if the officers were reserves working for free as they do in other communities, it wouldn’t be a big deal and the DUI arrests would be the same.
The only reason FPD doesn’t use FREE reserves is because of the union. If the reserves cost almost as much hourly, might as well use the full-timers. At least that has been the mindset in some departments.
#33 by Gilligan on May 6, 2010
What do you mean that FPD doesn’t use FREE reserves? You have some bad information. FPD does have a few Reserve Officers that work for free but they also have other full time jobs that they get paid to do. They work a handful of hours a months for the city. It has nothing to do with the union.
#34 by Greg on May 6, 2010
Gilligan, I stand corrected; I had old information. According to Sgt. Fred Casas, until the recent budget crisis hit, all 18 reserves were paid $22p/h. FPD reserves were among the first to take the pay cut. These are the guys (and maybe gals?) that are, in my opinion, the most noble of public servants. Let’s get these 18 reserves out there to work the DUI checkpoints if we must and keep the grant money to hire more reserves. I know it doesn’t work that way with grant money but we should do more to include volunteer police and fire reserves. Again, there are a lot of men and women who are academy trained and need to gain experience. Most are willing to work part-time for free, much like an internship.
#35 by Verbatim on May 6, 2010
I love the hypocrisy of a DUI Checkpoint’s legality in stopping people for no probable cause and the criticism on Arizona for asking a person legitimately detained for a drivers license or legal ID.
#36 by Stan on May 10, 2010
The actual intent of the Checkpoints is to inform drivers of drinking and driving. Most check points only catch 4 to 5 DUI’s as those are the ones too wasted to read the sign that says DUI & ID checkpoint ahead with an opportunity to avoid the checkpoint.
Cars towed away are those driven by people with no drivers license or a suspended drivers license which also means that they have no insurance if they plow into another vehicle.
I would be happy if only one drunk was arrested if that drunk was the one that would kill someone in an accident. No amount of money should be placed on putting a drunk driver in jail if it saves only one life.
Also, California DUI checkpoints have to follow very stringent rules. The police department has to notify the media that it will be conducting a checkpoint and they have to have a set pattern of allowing so many cars through before they can stop a group of cars. You would also be surprised how many second and time Narcotics offenders are arrested, but those numbers seem to get lost in the story over just the DUI’s. Anyone who is actually stopped, arrested and/or has their car towed away is just too stupid or wasted to avoid the checkpoint in the first place.