A Year Without DUI Checkpoints

Last year this blog exposed the DUI/drivers license checkpoint con that was being operated by the Fullerton PD, here. The checkpoints allowed the PD to stop and interrogate hundreds of innocent drivers while boosting their own overtime pay, sucking up impound fees and filling the pockets of their friends at the impound yard, all under the false pretense of catching drunk drivers (a task handled much more efficiently and constitutionally by DUI patrols.)

A year ago the final checkpoint event was quietly cancelled and we haven’t heard a peep since, lending credence to our assertion that the checkpoints have always been ineffective and wasteful…so much so that nobody’s even noticed now that they’re gone.

Well, there’s one group who probably noticed: those two-dozen cops who are now missing out on the easy overtime pay. Standing around, drinking coffee and causing traffic jams just doesn’t pay like it used to.

84 Replies to “A Year Without DUI Checkpoints”

    1. Funny thinking about it though. You know they will question it top to bottom, and maybe even try to fight his medical retirement, but if two doctors agree on the diagnosis, he’s in the wind and gets his medical retirement. Would be fun being a fly on the wall for this whole process and how it plays out, but no one will ever know due to confidentiality.

        1. LOL nope just been reading things. Nothing exciting. Just Quirk getting mayor and saying lets move on. She needs to go to.

  1. Again. Checkpoints are done at every PD in So Cal almost and they are all funded by the state government, OTS. If they were illegal, then OTS wouldn’t be giving millions and millions of dollars every year to all the California cities to conduct these checkpoints.

    Yes, they are all done on overtime and the money can only be spent on overtime for the checkpoints. No options, no choices. If you don’t want to do that, then you don’t get the money. Simple.

    To think that Fullerton is safer without checkpoints is ridiculous. Part of the grants from OTS includes education at the local schools, the every 15 minutes programs, and saturation patrols for DUI drivers. You don’t get any of the funds for these other things if you choose to not to do checkpoints. Checkpoints aren’t to get huge stats, they are to publicize that there is a checkpoint in the city and hopefully anyone that sees or reads that will chose to not drive that night. Even one DUI is great for a checkpoint.

    So if Fullerton chose to not get the hundreds of thousands of dollars in grant funds from OTS, that is their loss for sure. The surrounding cities still get the funds and still do the checkpoints and they are all splitting up the funds that Fullerton chose not to receive.

    I think that if the anti recall people could spin this the right way and blame the lack of DUI enforcement and checkpoints on the FFFF Tony Chris group, that could be a huge shot to the recall campaign. DUI enforcement is always a big plus for the voters, along with suspended and no license, no insurance enforcement.

    Look at the stats for Fullerton. Look at the DUI crashes over the last 10 years.

    Every city needs more DUI enforcement, not less, especially considering that there is zero pro active enforcement in this area any longer due to no cops available and no funds to put cops out specifically for this purpose.

    Take your shots. I know they are coming. 🙂

    1. FPD arrests people on the street and charges them with drunk in public…. and they have not been drinking. Can you say Kenton Hampton? FPD has lost all trust to do the right thing. Seems a guy they did arrest legally was goaded into killing himself, but the voice recorder was smashed, so we will never know…… No extra pay for the FPD criminals. Hpefully soon no pay at all.

  2. “This is California, after all — a state renowned for it’s fiscal irresponsibility and zealous over-governance.”

    1. True. I forget the exact numbers but it comes from the gas tax. Millions of dollars are taken as gas tax and then distributed for education and enforcement by California Office of Traffic Safety. So they could cut that but that money has to be spent on certain things only, related to street enforcement, etc. Federal funds are the same way. Millions from another tax or fund, funneled to the state level at OTS and then distributed to PD’s statewide. If a city decides they don’t want to apply, no problem, they don’t get any funds and those funds are available for the cities that want them. CHP gets millions, as well as local PD’s. Great tool. I know most people in this state want every drunk, unlicensed, suspended license, and uninsured driver off the roads right now. Not later. Now, before they hit or kill people we all know. 🙂

      1. It would be even safer if we just required a breathalyzer test every time we left home. Why don’t you push for that law?

          1. Tuco says the DUI checkpoints should be done in downtown Fullerton any Saturday night! There would be a huge increase in total impound fees to the city and the number of DUI arrests would go waaaay up!
            Thats why I don’t go to the bars in Fullerton anymore. I might get caught and Public Information Officer Sgt. Goodlie will tell everyone my blood alcohol was 3 times the legal limit, that I sexually harassed Officer Rincon while stealing the ipad from theat nice female officer!
            So before I am caught, let this be known: Tuco is for free donuts for Sgt Goodlie!

  3. ordo ab chao-order out of chaos-hand out liquor licenses like candy on halloween, sit back and presto-instant supply of criminals, heads to crack and loot -always got a kick out of the two sides on “get smart”-control and chaos. Same MO here except lately they be gettin’ carried away on film. We need leadership not troublemakers-troublemakers are what we have had and the people still cant see the forest for the trees- Wake up folks. Good leaders would have never filled us up with bars, untenable labor arrangements and an out of control PD. Fullerton is not alone in this respect but my roots are put down here so I start in my backyard. I know there are good officers on the force and there are good people at city hall. Its your turn to shine and get us out of this political, economic and moral mess that Fullerton is in before major trouble at the national level besets us. It is never too late to do the right thing.

  4. Reality Is :Again. Checkpoints are done at every PD in So Cal almost and they are all funded by the state government, OTS. If they were illegal, then OTS wouldn’t be giving millions and millions of dollars every year to all the California cities to conduct these checkpoints.
    Yes, they are all done on overtime and the money can only be spent on overtime for the checkpoints. No options, no choices. If you don’t want to do that, then you don’t get the money. Simple.
    To think that Fullerton is safer without checkpoints is ridiculous. Part of the grants from OTS includes education at the local schools, the every 15 minutes programs, and saturation patrols for DUI drivers. You don’t get any of the funds for these other things if you choose to not to do checkpoints. Checkpoints aren’t to get huge stats, they are to publicize that there is a checkpoint in the city and hopefully anyone that sees or reads that will chose to not drive that night. Even one DUI is great for a checkpoint.
    So if Fullerton chose to not get the hundreds of thousands of dollars in grant funds from OTS, that is their loss for sure. The surrounding cities still get the funds and still do the checkpoints and they are all splitting up the funds that Fullerton chose not to receive.
    I think that if the anti recall people could spin this the right way and blame the lack of DUI enforcement and checkpoints on the FFFF Tony Chris group, that could be a huge shot to the recall campaign. DUI enforcement is always a big plus for the voters, along with suspended and no license, no insurance enforcement.
    Look at the stats for Fullerton. Look at the DUI crashes over the last 10 years.
    Every city needs more DUI enforcement, not less, especially considering that there is zero pro active enforcement in this area any longer due to no cops available and no funds to put cops out specifically for this purpose.
    Take your shots. I know they are coming.

    FPD does more saturations than Checkpoints.

  5. I, for one, will NEVER be convinced Checkpoints are constitutional.

    Otoh, as long cops run them, at least they’re turning up some illegals without insurance and licenses. That make them worthwhile if they’re then deported, but I’ll bet that’s asking for someone to do the right thing.

  6. Let em all drink n drive. Trash licenses. It’s bad now, just wait a few years. 🙁

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    NEWPORT BEACH (CBS) — A 17-year-old Newport Harbor High School student who was struck Tuesday by an allegedly impaired driver remained hospitalized in critical condition Wednesday.

    Physicians treating the teenager planned to induce a coma to try to reduce brain swelling, said Laura Boss, a spokeswoman for the Newport-Mesa Unified School District.

    Newport Beach police say Crystal Morales was leaving school and crossing Irvine Avenue at Margaret Drive about 2:50 p.m. when she was struck by a Chevrolet Tahoe driven by Marnie J. Lippincott, 38, of Costa Mesa.

    Lippincott was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence. Her husband said she was on her way to pick up their daughter from school and had not been drinking.

    Lippincott was being held in lieu of $100,000 bail. She was scheduled to appear in court Thursday, though no charges had been filed as of late Wednesday, according to jail and court records.

    Records indicate Lippincott has had multiple brushes with the law on drug-related charges.

    “Obviously it’s a really tough time for the Newport Harbor High School family and our hearts and prayers go out to the Morales family,” said Boss.

    Counseling services were provided to the staff and students of the high school Wednesday.

    (©2011 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)

  7. Lets just have checkpoints everywhere like Stalin had. After all the constitution is wholly ineffective to govern an immoral population. That is why we are fed a steady diet of debauchery in the media. I say lets throw the baby out with the bathwater. Lets just let the tsa take over. After all its inevitable. We can all stay in our homes obeying the tv popping our psycotropics

    1. Checkpoints have strict criteria that must be met. Location based on stats, every vehicle checked or every certain number, etc. it’s not just random and has to meet the criteria to hold up in court.

      1. You are confusing random with arbitrary. These things turn out to be very arbitrary:

        Hampton: Let’s stop every fourth car.

        Cicinelli: Naw, I’m feeling active tonight. Let’s wave over every third car.

        1. Excellent point DUI checkpoints are or should be unconstitutional.

          Make bar owners financially responsible for their drunk driving patrons if you really want to cut down on drunk driving accidents.

          Of course that might hurt bizzness as usual. Better to just abitrarily harrass motorists.

            1. If people were drinking them in their cars on their way home from Costco that would make sense. Since most people who buy liquor from Costco drink at home, not so much.

              Thinking. It does a body good.

            1. I never said anything about limiting customers. I said make bar owners financially responsible in the situations where a customer gets plastered in their bar and smashes into another vehicle on their way home.

              1. Technically, they already are. Follow up is done just as it was in the Adenhart case. Problem is that unless death comes, not much follow up is done due to personnel available to conduct it. But yes, the bars are liable and many licenses have been pulled for this very reason.

  8. DUI Checkpoints, a Soviet style solution. The cops should say “papers please” when they shine the flashlight in your face.

    1. I agree. If here illegally load them up and ship em back. We all know that will never happen. Illegals are welcome here forever. Give them all licenses too.

  9. Reality Is :
    I think that if the anti recall people could spin this the right way and blame the lack of DUI enforcement and checkpoints on the FFFF Tony Chris group

    Unlikely. First the PD would have to admit that FFFF had an impact. Won’t happen. Too much pride and anger over there.

      1. I think there should be one on every street. I will gladly show my license to them each and every time. It’s a privilege to drive, not a right. Don’t have a license, lose your car, and walk.

          1. Yes. I didn’t say utopia state. We are talking about checkpoints and being sober and having a license while driving. I have no issue with a checkpoint once a month on a city street and them looking in my eyes and asking to see my license while I’m seated in my car. Being that it’s a privilege to drive, I have no issue showing it to them and going on my way.

            1. Why don’t they just put a mandatory breathalyzer in every car while we’re at it? Or how about some kind of nanotech device to measure your blood alcohol content at all times? We could modify it to measure for illegal drug use too! Wow, that would be nifty! More control over the citizenry is always a wonderful thing, is it not?

              Like I asked, ever read 1984?

              1. WE already have that. If you get arrested for DUI, the judge could have one installed in your car and you can’t drive that car until you blow first.

              2. Reality is a STATIST. In his mind, we have no rights that he cannot trample to assist in the convenience of his daily activities.

                As it is with most police officers, you are wasting your time trying to convince that limits to his power have an important purpose.

                1. Not just police. Your leaders of city, state, and federal government, including the judges that make the decisions that lead to case law. We just practice what they preach. You change the way they think or the decisions they make, then we will change the laws we enforce. Until then, it’s clear how things will be done, all in ink.

    1. Yeah, sure you do. I can almost see it there on the wall of your one bedroom apartment, right next to the picture of your ex-wife (no she’s not coming back).

      When the light hits it just right and you squint a little it no longer says Rubidoux Continuation Night School GED.

      And then you feel real important.

  10. Fred, you don’t own a home. you have no job, and you are an illegal alien. I dont have an ex wife but Im pretty sure Ive seen your wife around town.

  11. Nailed it, Travis. I don’t think most people realize what an ineffective waste of time and resources these checkpoints really are.

    They typically snag about 20 people who didn’t realize that their licenses were suspended because of unpaid tickets that they never received. Maybe 1 drunk if they’re lucky. At what cost?

    1. Come on Gonzo. Really? 20 people that didn’t know their license was suspended? You sound like a father protecting his kid after he killed someone, saying he could have never done it. Tell me this. Have you ever got a ticket in your life and not known you got it? Even though you signed it and promised to appear? The catering to these morons that fail to do what they are supposed to do is amazing. I’m still laughing that you even said that, 20 people that didn’t know their license was suspended. More like 20 people that had it suspended for DUI or hazardous driving and should never drive again in their lives. Plus the other 80 people that were unlicensed, have never taken a driver’s training class in their lives, never had a probation license period, or anything else. I think this is where you and most people in this world differ, a license is not a right, it’s a privilege. Either abide by the rules, or your car will be taken and/or you will go to jail.

      Checkpoints are a debatable topic and always have been. Bottom line is they are legal if conducted properly. They hold up in courts and trials. Just knowing there is a checkpoint going in a city deters most people from driving drunk that know about it. I think saturation patrols are even more valuable in a different way. It’s the package, education and enforcement, that saves lives in this state. The billions of dollars shelled out for checkpoints and saturations and education is valuable and won’t be going anywhere anytime soon. If cities choose not to take the money for checkpoints, the next city over will take their money gladly.

      Too many unlicensed, suspended license, and uninsured drivers on the road. Get them off and get them off now before they kill or injure someone I love, not to mention once they do hit us we have to pay for the repairs. Idiots.

      1. In a society where people have jobs in places where they cannot afford to buy homes nearby, and there is no realistic public transportation option, saying “driving is a privilege” is just doublespeak.

        1. You are part of the problem then. You don’t feel it’s a privilege to drive, you think it’s a right. So do all the illegals here from Mexico.

          1. Of course to a cop I would appear as “part of the problem.” No surprise there!

            What I’m saying is pretty simple though. If you have a society where people have to work to live, can’t afford to live near work, don’t have public transportation options – then they have to drive. So you can call it a privilege all you want, but for actual people living here – everybody knows its a necessity. I wouldn’t call it either a privilge or a right. Just a necessity, for better or worse.

            1. I understand.

              They did one of two things.

              They are here illegally so they can’t drive here.

              They screwed up and got too many tickets or DUI’s or any of the other things, and their license is suspended. So yes, they can’t drive because the judge punished them.

              There is public transportation everywhere in California. People use it everyday. People without licenses use it because they can’t drive. The lazy people that don’t care about laws or punishments continue to drive. Those are the ones that get their cars impounded, they go buy another car, and drive again the next day. I have no sympathy for them. They are law breakers and will be until they die.

      2. Spoken like a true cop.

        I see it every day: people find out that their license has been pulled because some halfwit cop wrote down the date to appear or screwed up on an address.

  12. Browse the OTS website.

    They give out millions for the checkpoints.

    If I can setup a checkpoint on a problem street and do it per law, and get 2 DUI’s and 25 unlicensed or suspended license drivers, imagine how many are out there driving around. Sick. Disgusting. GEt them all of the street and do it now!! I demand it. I’m going to council meeting and yelling that LOL

  13. Reality Is :Not just police. Your leaders of city, state, and federal government, including the judges that make the decisions that lead to case law. We just practice what they preach. You change the way they think or the decisions they make, then we will change the laws we enforce. Until then, it’s clear how things will be done, all in ink.

    I will actually admit you have a point there.

  14. Reality Is :
    Technically, they already are. Follow up is done just as it was in the Adenhart case. Problem is that unless death comes, not much follow up is done due to personnel available to conduct it. But yes, the bars are liable and many licenses have been pulled for this very reason.

    This is exactly what the huge hole is that exists in the system that needs to be fixed right away. Each and every DUI suspect or Drunk in Public that get’s arrested by the Fullerton PD should be required by law to report to the Police and the City Council which bar owners served them that evening to start assembling a contributory negligence case to prosecute against the bar owners, in much the same manner that we hold parents accountable when they choose to serve minors alcohol in their own home, and then the minor gets arrested by Police afterwords.
    Compliance like these types of measures should have a way of tightening up their standards when they risk losing their ABC license or condiotional use permit.

    1. You’re right. It should be that way in every city. Problem is that this is ABC’s job and between them and PDs there is no money to do crap anymore. Barely enough cops anymore to answer general calls for service. That’s the reality.

  15. Reality Is :
    You’re right. It should be that way in every city. Problem is that this is ABC’s job and between them and PDs there is no money to do crap anymore. Barely enough cops anymore to answer general calls for service. That’s the reality.

    I agree with you because when I suggested this same approach to City Manager Joe Felz, his response was verbadim to yours.
    With all of the big money grants that are thrown at law enforcement agencies to conduct DUI checkpoints, you would think that someone would’ve been smart enough in the past to grant some of that same money available to pro-actively enforce the state laws against serving alcohol to already inebriated patrons.
    What I read between the lines is that they were all afraid of going after the likes of the Slidebar as not to piss off the downtown restaurants that just happen to make 95 % of their money from alcohol sales.

    1. Yep. There are grants for ABC work too. Many cities have them. It’s to pro actively work liquor stores and bars. Of course it’s the same as the OTS grants, overtime details. Why anyone would refuse to take grant money for DUI related details is beyond me. Especially in this era of everyone being broke. To each his own.

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