The Virginian-Pilot
©
PORTSMOUTH
One out of five drivers received a ticket accusing them of having a suspended driver's license or no license at all. Six people were arrested on charges including cocaine possession and carrying a concealed weapon. A .45-caliber handgun was seized.
City police stopped 312 vehicles in four hours Wednesday night at the city's latest traffic safety checkpoint near the intersection of South Street and Des Moines Avenue. In addition to the arrests, they wrote out 94 tickets - 63 for alleged license violations.
"Amazing," said Sgt. Steve Jackson, who heads the police Strategic Traffic Unit. He described it as widespread complacency about driving laws. "They just want to drive so bad," he said. "They just take a gamble."
The roadblocks - to check for license status, drunken driving and other safety or criminal violations - have become routine across the city. They've increased generally across Virginia, but Portsmouth stands out for its number and variety of locations and "odd hours," said Mary Ann Rayment, spokeswoman for the Virginia Highway Safety Office of the Department of Motor Vehicles.
"They pick 10 o'clock in the morning. They pick 4 o'clock in the afternoon. They really do move it around," Rayment said. "They are definitely a little ahead of the game."
Since the beginning of the year, Portsmouth police quietly have conducted about 18 roadblocks either on their own or with Chesapeake police or Virginia State Police, according to the department and Jackson, stopping several thousand drivers.
The same man was charged with drunken driving at two checkpoints in a row. "He said, 'How many checkpoints are you going to do?' " Jackson recalled.
They will continue. The department recently received a $48,534 grant from the Virginia Highway Safety Office for equipment and overtime costs to conduct more checkpoints and extra patrols for a year, beginning Oct. 1, Rayment and Jackson said. That will extend work done under a previous grant, Rayment said.
A national increase in drunken-driving crashes and deaths is reflected here, and so jurisdictions are getting more aggressive, Rayment said.
Police have begun publicizing them after-the-fact. Sites have included Rodman Avenue in the western part of the city, the Hodges Ferry Bridge on Portsmouth Boulevard at the Chesapeake city line, and Airline Boulevard in the southern part of the city.
Police want the word to get out, Jackson said.
"The preventive measures, you can't measure," he said.
Matthew Bowers, (757) 222-3893, matthew.bowers@pilotonline.com
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Well Rick, as to your
Well Rick, as to your responses to my comments, you are either a cop, a prosecutor, a judge, or an attorney. Regardless of how the Supreme Court has ruled, there seems to be plenty of leway and loop holes in their rulings to allow law enforcement to go on an easter egg hunt, and make up a reason. The Supreme Court (in my view) doesn't interpret the Bill of Rights the way they were intended. Especially the 2nd and 4th Amendments. I still think there is abuse and intimidation at these check points. I consider my car private property like my house. The way VA gets around that is they make you title it. And right at the top is the commonwealth of Virginia with you as the title holder. Hence the commonwealth is now an "interested party" to something you own and maintain.
Checkpoint
You are right EALD, but the Supreme Court has ruled that a narcotics dog cannot be randomly run around all cars at a Checkpoint without other probable cause or resonable suspicion to believe illegal narcotics are in the car. SO see KEITHH41833 there is your 4th Amendment rights in full effect at a checkpoint. No one said the police could search without PC or articulatable resonable suspicion. NOTE: A certified narcotics or explosive dog can scan (search) the exterior of any vehicle on a public street or public parking lot. If an officer has the right to be there, the dog can be used and is PC to put the dog inside the vehicle, (Carrol Doctrine) in certain situations and in others the dog is PC for a search warrant.
Drug Pups
I'd like to see the PPD include the use of drug dogs in these traffic stops. Great job PPD! Keep up the excellent work!
I'd also like to commend the Virginian Pilot for their excellent coverage on the positive happenings in Portsmouth.
Well Rick, this is
Well Rick, this is something, in my view, that will lead to abuse. People are so easily ready to give up their 4th Amendment rights just because a police officer wants to search your car or person with or without probable cause.
Get un-licensed off the street
No "rights" being trampled. As mentioned, driving is a privilege, not a right. Police check your license and registration. And from how many people were netted, sounds like we need more of these checks. Police are here to keep us safe. People without a license or cars that are not up to state inspection standards put people at risk.
Keep up the good work and get those illegal drives off the road.
Checkpoint
Hello!!!!! keithh41833,, the PAPERS are the drivers license, registration, and possibly Insurance papers!! All part of the agreement when you sign for your license?? I can't answer regarding any search,I was not there!!! But yes, with probable cause, such as odor of alcohol, drugs, plain view drug paraphalia, bullets, holster, or numerous other factors, a search is legal and proper, (Caroll Doctrine for one) and this is not even getting into the legality of an Investigative Detention, whereas you can be detained and even handcuffed but not be arrested, all perfectly LEGAL! Just because someone doesn't like the law process or does not understand the intriquices of the law, doesn't make it any less legal!
To the naysayers...
...it doesn't bother you how many people they are catching breaking the law??!! It doesn't bother you that these scofflaws are in your communities? It doesn't bother you that they are putting your lives and your safety (and your loved ones) at risk?
The Supreme Court has ruled these checkpoints are constitutional. The number of people illegally driving and committing other violations show that this is a significant public safety issue.
Keep up the great work Portsmouth PD!
To getlaxguy
Your comment on unsolved murders is off base just a little. First off the officers that are involved in unsolved murders are known as "detectives" and the officers involved in the traffic sting operations are known as "Uniform Patrol Officers".
Probable Cause?
MiddleagedRick states "A drivers license is a privilege you earn and when you meet the requirements, you agree to the terms set forth by DMV.By signing your license you agree to, upon probable cause, be tested for DUI, produce your drivers license upon request from a Law Enforcement Official, etc."
Then where was the "probable cause" for one to show ones "papers" and submit to being searched at a check point?
Checkpoint
People,if you are going to comment on something, please at least have a working knowledge of the subject. Please realize that RIGHTS and PRIVILEGES are two different things! You cannot be arrested, searched or have property seized without Probable Cause! They are not "God Given", but rights you have by being a citizen of the USA! Privileges are something you earn, by meeting the necessary requirements. Rights cannot be unlawfully taken away, privileges can! A drivers license is a privilege you earn and when you meet the requirements, you agree to the terms set forth by DMV.By signing your license you agree to, upon probable cause, be tested for DUI, produce your drivers license upon request from a Law Enforcement Official, etc. As stated in the article, the officers were working a GRANT from the Va. Highway Safety Council, this was not on-duty time! Yes, there are other Grants for other t