Tucson Police Checkpoint Scheduled For Tonight

policeStopThe Arizona Daily Star has reported that the Tucson Police Department will be conducting suspicionless checkpoints within the city limits later today (Friday – December 28, 2007).

The Tucson Police jumped on the checkpoint bandwagon in late October of this year after a 12 year hiatus. Similar to the Pima County Sheriff Dept., the TPD stopped conducting checkpoints well over a decade ago because they were far less effective at identifying and removing drunk drivers from the road than traditional patrolling.

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Army Vandalism & Arbitrary Police Enforcement Activity

bermudezYou’d think I’d know better by now but I have to admit I’m still regularly surprised by the arbitrary and unlawful exercise of police power by those paid to serve and protect but more often than not just want to intimidate and control.

My most recent experience along this line took place on November 15th – the day the Arizona Wildcats were scheduled to play the second ranked Oregon Ducks.

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Ohio Sheriff Accepts Bribe to Conduct Illegal Checkpoints

GHSO_02Last night I came across an article by The Newspaper, highlighting a story out of Summit County, Ohio regarding sobriety checkpoints and a local county sheriff.

In a breath of fresh air, Summit County Sheriff Drew Alexander admitted sobriety checkpoints are far less effective at removing drunk drivers from the road than traditional policing methods that rely upon reasonable suspicion to justify a stop. The Sheriff then went on to state he believes such suspicionless checkpoints are a violation of the spirit of the 4th Amendment.

Just when I was starting to think Alexander was a sheriff with integrity however, I discovered he wasn’t nearly so willing to put his convictions into practice when federal bribes amounting to $175,000 were on the line.

Instead, Alexander applied for and received a federal grant from the so-called National Highway Traffic Safety Administration through Ohio’s Governor’s Highway Safety Office (GHSO). Although Alexander wrangled with the state regarding how many ineffective and unconstitutional checkpoints his department would have to conduct in order to receive the money, he eventually accepted the bribe on the condition he would operate no less than four such checkpoints over the course of the upcoming year.

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