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StumbleMetro to conduct 5 DUI checkpoints on holiday weekend
Mona Shield Payne / Special to the Sun
Metro Police officers Tim Townley, right, and Brent Garcia talk to a driver Aug. 23, 2009, at a DUI checkpoint on Rainbow Boulevard north of Cheyenne Avenue.
Published Thursday, May 27, 2010 | 9:32 a.m.
Updated Thursday, May 27, 2010 | 1:26 p.m.
Lt. Christopher Ankeny of Metro's Traffic Division speaks with the media Thursday, alongside members of Stop DUI and the Goshen Community Development Coalition.
Photos of drunk driving victim Mark Eddowes were on display at Metro's news conference on Thursday.
Metro Police said Thursday the agency will host the country's largest anti-DUI event during Memorial Day weekend. It will include five sobriety checkpoints and officers patrolling high-risk areas.
The event, paid for by a grant from the Goshen Community Development Coalition, is an effort to reduce alcohol-related crashes during the weekend.
Each checkpoint will include three Metro Police vans equipped with devices that determine whether a driver is impaired, Lt. Christopher Ankeny of Metro’s Traffic Bureau said at a news conference Thursday. Phlebotomists will also be on hand to test blood alcohol levels, he said.
“DUI is a crime, not an accident,” he said.
About 250 officers and civilians will be assigned to the checkpoints, officials said. Sandy Heverely, of Stop DUI, a local advocacy group, called it a “huge event” for her group.
“We are truly, truly grateful for the events that are going to be happening,” she said.
Joan Eddowes, whose son died in a drunk-driving incident, she said she was hopeful the weekend’s events would get impaired drivers off Southern Nevada roads.
Her son, Mark, was 19 when he became the first local fatality of Memorial Day weekend in 1991. He died at University Medical Center after he was hit by a drunk driver. Mark was riding his bicycle, and the accident “literally tore his body to pieces,” his mother said.
“It gives me pleasure to talk about my son,” she said. “He was my life. He was my future.”
Eddowes said she told her only son she loved him that morning as he left. That was the last time she saw him.
A neighborhood child came to her door later that day and told her Mark had been hurt in a car accident.
“I didn’t get to see my son,” at the hospital, she said. “There wasn’t anything they could do to save him.”
Eddowes said she hopes drivers will act responsibly during Memorial Day weekend so no one else will have to endure the loss she did.
Memorial Day weekend typically has the second-highest number of DUI arrests for a holiday. The highest number occurs during the New Year's holiday, Metro officials said.
Ankeny said three people have died so far this year in alcohol-related crashes in Metro's jurisdiction. That's down from 11 at this time last year.
Ankeny attributed the decrease to stepped-up efforts to catch drunk drivers, including monthly checkpoints and efforts to work with other local police departments throughout the valley.
This weekend's checkpoints will be active from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. The locations will be at Flamingo Road and Hospitality Circle beginning Friday; Boulder Highway and Desert Inn Road beginning Saturday; and Charleston Boulevard and Decatur Boulevard beginning Saturday.
Monday will include two checkpoints, one at Boulder Highway and Flamingo Road, and another at Boulder Highway and Desert Inn Road.
In addition to annoucing the weekend’s checkpoints, Ankeny discussed Metro’s new policy of seizing vehicles of drivers with a felony DUI.
For a car to be seized, the driver must have had two or more DUIs during the past seven years, said Metro spokeswoman Barbara Morgan. The seizure would happen after the person’s third drunk-driving offense and the car would be impounded, as is normally done, after the DUI traffic stop. Then, the department will file papers to seize the vehicle, she said.
“We will remove that vehicle – that weapon – from the roadway,” he said.
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Will they be profiling?
good for them. The whole force should be out from midnight to 4am.
Highways are the worst because the drunks know they can't put roadblocks there.
I hope they do profile, it is not hard. Look for a piece of crap vehicle with stolen expensive rims. Pull them over, they will either be drunk, illegal, or hauling pot, or all three. Oh, and the registered (stolen) owner of the vehicle won't be in it.
whats the first most dangerous holiday for alcohol involved crashes.
chuck... my guess is new years...
chuck.... Mother-in-law day.
Not sure dodgerchuck, great question. I read an old article that said Thanksgiving and another that said New Years and Christmas. I hope someone out there researches it. Memorial Day would be a great guess. There are a lot of people who are full of sadness while honoring the memory of a loved one and use alcohol to cope. Memorial Day is also the kickoff to summer parties for others.
Why is it that you Einsteins have to immediately jump on the illegal or race thing? Sheesh. Do a quick, simple search on any news outlet's site and you'll see how DUIs are committed by idiots of all race, creed and ethnicity.
Man, it must be tough living in your one-track mind, paranoid world. It's boring already.
Churn 'em and burn 'em Metro!!
I'm sure he meant will they be profiling people who appear drunk....not their race.
Sheeesh Axiom.
THIS IS THE DUMBEST THING i've seen, why not have the police serve drinks while they are out, stupid. check point = surprise guys...
probable cause ?
Axiom: Its because we hate illegals. It's that simple we hate those who have invaded our country and broken our laws they are here to steal the American Dream from us and our children. All American taxpaying citizens have been robbed by these illegal border invaders. DEPORT ALL ILLEGALS especially the 300,000 in Las Vegas!
Yes! Sheeesh Axiom! cpa_ken never said RACIAL profiling. So you're the one jumping on the paranoia race thing. In fact, you were the first to bring up race and ethnicity. Funny, you called them boring for bringing it up, but you brought it up, Axiom.
Yeah Axiom, it's obvious that cpa_ken meant "profiling" as in "stylin' and profilin'." He wants to know if the cops will look fresh while manning these checkpoints. What else could he have meant?
Must be nice to blame all your problems on others. I have a nice house and nice kids who do well in school and a great job. Somehow I did that without any problems from illegals. You know how? I got off my butt and worked hard and stopped looking to blame others.
poolguy123 - It's the LAW to post them!
Be a responsible American and refuse to comply with these unconstitutional checkpoints. DO YOUR PART and exercise your right to remain silent!
vegasstudent It is estimated that the illegals have cost each and every taxpaying American $14,632 each. Since you don not mind paying your share maybe you could reimburse me the $14,632 and I will quit bitching about them invading our country and demanding resources from citizens. I get off my but and work everyday in fact i am working right now. See I own my business and hate the fact that these border invaders have taken so much and demanding more. Somewhere we have to draw a line or else our children will pay the a greater price.
Here you go just watch where your money goes.
http://www.usdebtclock.org/
We should be allowed to drive around drunk and kill people- Rand Paul
P.S. with Guns too !
P.S.S. on drugs too !
Regarding the earlier comments, in the updated story we report that the highest number of drunk-driving arrests occurs during the New Year's holiday.
I recorded my interaction with police at the last DUI checkpoint in Summerlin at Rampart & Vegas Dr. I refused to answer questions or even roll down the window. You actually do have the right to remain silent! I was allowed to go two minutes later after they decided I was breaking no laws by refusing to cooperate. See for yourself, you DO NOT have to participate in their fishing expedition.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIupHbRTp...
Wow. Interesting timf343. Good to know!
Thanks Las Vegas Sun staff for answering our earlier question. Also good to know that you care about our posts.
Shootin' fish in a barrel is no substitute for real policework.
DUI checkpoints, while very well intended, smack of a police state, and I am therefore conflicted.
I just can't imagine that doing a saturation patrol and LOOKING for drunk drivers via "observation techniques" wouldn't be more effective at getting these menaces off the road than these pre-arranged, announced in advance, communist-style, government-sponsored intrusions into our freedom to move about freely.
Typically, there is MONEY $$$ INVOLVED for local law enforcement when they run these programs....
The feds cough up a lotta change to our local men in blue to run DUI checkpoints.
Your Papers Please!
Ok great to hear they will be working with ICE to deport any illegals found at these checkpoints. Good job Metro we need the police helping ICE with the deportation of the 300,000 plus border invaders in the Las Vegas valley. Just saw and interview online with a Metro officer saying they will be looking for illegals with these stops.
timf343 and gmag39 are idiots. With your attitude, people will lose their rights to live. Such big men you are to show us you have rights. Driving on the roads is a privilege, not a right. An officer can chase taillights all night looking for an impaired driver. A check point can be more effective and stop the potential for a needless death. Police state? Stop bringing up past conduct of other countries. If it means that one person will live by me cooperating at a checkpoint, I will do it. Who is it hurting?
Comment removed by moderator. Name calling.
Timf343: Boy I hope you EXERCISE your right and remain "silent" when they pull you over...oh boy I want to see that one. you'll be squelling like a pig to let me go.....go ahead.Take your guns and load your truck up with beer...they're just waiting for jokers like you. These check points are for those dumb idiots who simply don't get it and shouldn't be behind the wheel. They too would exercise their right...problem is,their speech is so slurred no one can understand exactly what they're saying.Oh by the way,check points like this are conducted throughour the US all the time, unannounced and for real good reason.
Timf343
This is so funny what you wrote.
I would like to see you with your windows up and not complying with the cops,there will be 4 or more cops pulling you out of your car and then on top of you, off to jail.
Everyone benefits from these checkpoints.
Less people die.
Why no checkpoints in the Northeast area?
I agree with Southwest since that's the comparably livelier area and anyone who has to check traffic often knows that's where most wrecks happen, probably just due to the raised odds that more traffic creates.
However, the Northeast area and Downtown clearly have the most trouble with brazen illegal activities that could be snuffed out with something so simple as a checkpoint.
Also, I for one am just glad to know where to avoid in order to prevent the extra hassle (so no lack of appreciation on my part, per se), but should the checkpoint locations really be publicized?
In ID and NM, they use the element of surprise, and even set up checkpoints on freeways (not as impossible as a prior post presumed). It is indeed obnoxious, especially if you get a rude officer, but not as obnoxious as getting maimed by some harbinger of doom.
The checkpoints are great PR tools but statistically they catch less drunks than officers who are on the road observing a drivers behavior.
Check points are a great tool. If properly applied they do not violate civil rights. For example stop every car. Stop every 3rd car Stop every 5th car etc....or of course if there is a visible violation that is a automatic stop. As long as the Police can show that a order was maintained in how they stopped the cars no civil rights issues. Besides if your not doing anything wrong whats the issue? And for Timf343 I will have to watch your video to decide if what you say is true. But driving on a public road is a privledge not a right. And if you are stopped by the Police I doubt that you did not provide a Driver's License to them and just simply stare into space and told them to pound sand.
It seems they are out to catch all the amateurs that will be taking to the roadways this weekend..If you get caught now,, while locked up ,, should start reading paper to know where they will be conducting these checkpoints...Have a great holiday everyone................
buckiefan--
Please do watch the video. You'll see I don't comply with their request. Since it is a WARRANTLESS and SUSPICIONLESS checkpoint (hence they are stopping every vehicle), there is no probable cause authorizing police to detain a person. And while driving on a road may be a privilege, due process and freedom to not be detained are both rights that cannot be suspended at any time (except, you can of course be detained if there is a warrant or reasonable suspicion of a crime).
The supreme court has ruled that checkpoints do not violate the constitution and that, if you choose to drive through the checkpoint (you have the right to avoid it), the police have the authority to detain you to determine if you are intoxicated. LVMPD can detain you for 60 minutes without having a crime to pin on you; in other words, they have 60 to hold you and determine your intoxication level if any. So, if you want to drive into the checkpoint to be purposefully uncooperative with the procedure (like Timmy above), then LVMPD may detain you for the whole 60 minutes just for fun. Just cooperate, don't be a douchebag and drive into the checkpoint just to be uncooperative.
SCOTUS did rule the checkpoint itself does not violate the US Constitution. But while the temporary seizure at a checkpoint may not be considered a violation of the 4th amendment, citizens do not lose the right to remain silent, or any other right for that matter. Longer detention is not permitted despite what you may think.
Nevada law NRS 171.123 requires police to have reasonable and articulable suspicion of a crime before they may detain a person (for up to 60 minutes, you got that part right at least). Since the checkpoint is suspicionless - they're stopping all vehicles, not just those for whom they have developed reasonable suspicion of intoxication - there is no reasonable suspicion of any crime, and the police therefore have no authority to detain you further.
A Federal Grant is paying for the DUI checkpoints.
I believe it's $250,000.
Brianlv is right. It's A SHOW.
Why did you drive through the checkpoint then, Timmy? And don't say it was because it was the only way, or shortest way, to your destination. I completely support less government intrusion and don't want to be detained either. But why Timmy? Why drive through the checkpoint? Just to prove a point?
Essentially, yes. I don't believe checkpoints are effective and I disagree with the Supreme Court that the intrusion upon my rights is minimal and acceptable. I know I can't change the world, but I will stand up for what I believe is right, and this is one of the ways I choose to protest.
During my stop at the last checkpoint, police berated me and threatened me with arrest. This common police tactic is unprofessional behavior that borders on the illegal - one cannot be arrested for asserting his right to remain silent!
If police had simply let me go, I'd probably have little interest in going through another checkpoint. But since they escalated on me, I feel it is my civic duty to stand up against this unlawful behavior.
Well, I'm not going to comment on how you choose to spend your time but why waste the police's? That cop was not really going to take you to jail. They were not at all unprofessional with you. No one swore, no one threatened---even you were polite, even if you were uncooperative. It was a professional encounter with professional people. Your behavior was strange and uncommon which probably took the cop aback and he said things that weren't true. He didn't act on what he said because he knows his job and his limits so, yes, you're right--he could not take you to jail for being silent. Whoopdee do--big victory for you! You're a strong American. But come on...whether you disagree with the right of the police to stop you and determine your intoxication level or not, why waste their time? They are doing their job with the authority they have been given to do so. Checkpoints may be ineffective and costly. So? Timmy, I am on the same page with you on government intrusion---I want to be left alone and exercise my rights too. But you're being a d-bag.
I mean, it sounds like you're a conservative but you're acting like a liberal - inconveniencing others to get your point across.
Set one up outside Metros parking lot.
Tim, you made an interesting video. I would not want to be on your bad side...haha. I could only imagine what Metro did to make you mad.
However, I beleive the officers in the video went really easy on you. I think you caugth them off gaurd a little bit because most people do respect and comply with the police. You are trying to get a reaction out of them and you failed.
Metro, once again, showed their professionalism in your video. They were very reasonable and professional. I was expecting something negative to happen, but all the officers were great! I was hoping to see your windows getting smashed in or some yelling or something cool like on cops, but nope. Just professionalism.
Everyone needs to remember that Tim controls what goes in the video. He might only show a few seconds of an incident that lasted a few minutes to make Metro look bad and Tim look good.
If everyone would google supreme court rulings on DUI checkpoints you will see what Tim was very childish and only made Metro look better in my opinion.
At http://www.buzzle.com/articles/dui-and-s... you will see in 1990 "the Supreme Court found that getting drunk drivers off the road and eliminating potential public safety risks was more important that the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable search and seizure."
In conclusion, Tim, I believe Metro gave you a serious break. By the way you looked and the way you were talking, I believe Metro determined you were not impaired and let you go based on that, not based on the sheet of paper they did not even read.
I look forward to your reply Tim.
I know there were some grammer and spelling mistakes in my above comment, but I am not trying to be smart. And I do not proof read.
Tell me this and I apologize ahead of time for teh caps:
WHY DO THEY TELL EVERYONE WHERE THESE CHECKPOINTS ARE GOING TO BE????? Don't they realize people will totally avoid these areas???
The courts said that checkpoints are constitutional IF the public is made aware of them ahead of time, if drivers have an "avenue of escape" before they reach the check point (side streets and such), and if officers stop people only to check for superficial signs of impairment then release (if not drunk). It's the law to announce where they are. But hundreds still show up.
Blond in the pond, the Teddy K. check point. Ted's done so much for us, this comment should be removed for staff infection.
NRS 484B.580 Failure to stop at roadblock; penalties.
1. It is unlawful for a person to:
(a) Proceed or travel through an administrative roadblock or a temporary roadblock without subjecting himself or herself to the traffic control established at the roadblock.
(b) Disobey the lawful orders or directions of a police officer at an administrative roadblock or a temporary roadblock.
2. A person who unlawfully proceeds through an administrative roadblock or a temporary roadblock shall be punished:
(a) If the person is the direct cause of a death or substantial bodily harm to any person, or damage to property in excess of $1,000, for a category B felony by imprisonment in the state prison for a minimum term of not less than 1 year and a maximum term of not more than 6 years, or by a fine of not more than $5,000, or by both fine and imprisonment.
(b) If no death, substantial bodily harm or damage to property in excess of $1,000 occurs, for a gross misdemeanor.
(Added to NRS by 1987, 1073; A 1995, 1298)--(Substituted in revision for NRS 484.3595)
LASVEGAS2009...and where did these numbers come from? It costs 14,592 for each tax-paying American in the U.S.? Does this not take in account the amount of federal taxes/social security they pay? I will be the first to say that it costs the states where most illegal immigration occurs(the southwest), but the federal government is making money off illegal immigrants easily.The main cost is education when dealing with illegals as they have a right to an education. So your cost to all American people is just plain stupidity.I would love to see a study from a non-biased organization that shows your numbers that you copied from a .org site...
By the way I am against illegal immigration(there are enough ways to get here legally), but to go anywhere and spew off absolute numbers where it is damn near impossible to determine is just plain ignorance!!
Why is it that its illegal immigrants doing this and doing that to the U.S. all 0f the sudden..They have been coming into this country illegally for years and years,, way longer than most think...Why because of 9/11 all the sudden its a big deal..They are going to come here no matter what until services are not rendered to them.. NONE,,ZERO,,NADA.. If your so worried about it then quit talking about it and start doing something...Talk is cheap,, but action is king.. So put that in a video and see how much it cost...............Whhoooooopppeeeeeeeee
This is just one more reason not to go out anymore.
Why don't they have roadblocks for illegals?? Oh yeah,i know. there's no $ to be made from deporting people! Here in NY they always get on TV before every holiday with their big crackdown on dui , then it;s seatbelts,then its cellphones....bla bla bla , yet there have been well over 100 shootings in the city. They aren't doing anything about that,there is no $ in it. What a joke.
Let's see if Metro really wants to crack down, Blue Diamond Blvd would a god place to start!
Metro doesn't want to curb drunk drivers, they only target areas where not many bars exists, if they did, they'd target the main Boulevards where drunk drivers know it's okay to drive.
If you test over the limit, you should go straight to jail, 72 hours, and name published in the Sun.
That's how Alaska does it. Get these idiots off the road.
Tim,
What was the paper you displayed to the cop in the video? A copy of the law? NRS 171.123? Very interesting video. A friend's wife works for metro; the stories I hear are unbelievable. The sherrif (now running for re-election, of course) sends out emails telling the cops to not all show up at once at the establishments that give them "free" meals, even though it's against the law to accept "free" meals....metro is corrupt as it was in the past. A friend who's a layer in town used to take in pictures of clients beaten by the cops and plead to either arrest his clients, or beat them, but not both. Tim, you're lucky you didn't get dragged from your car to meet the business end of the big maglight the cops carry....for "mouthing off" or "acting stupid" to the cop. Same old, same old, in Vegas...
The government is up our asses enough. This is a major inconvenience as people are delayed 45 minutes from the back up. Cops, enough is enough!