The Sheriff's Office has announced that, due to forecasts for inclement weather and potentially hazardous driving conditions, the sobriety checkpoint scheduled for tomorrow evening has been cancelled.
--Original Article--
On Feb. 22 law enforcement officers from the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office, Maryland State Police, Westminster Police Department, Sykesville Police Department, Taneytown Police Department and Hampstead Police Department will join together in conducting a sobriety checkpoint, according to a sheriff's department news release.
The checkpoint, which is designed to reduce the number of impaired and intoxicated drivers on Carroll County roadways, will occur in the north bound lane on the 2200 Block of Hanover Pike in Hampstead.
With a Grant funded through Checkpoint Strike Force, the checkpoint will be well marked and operated by uniformed law enforcement personnel. A briefing will be held at the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office Northern Satellite Office in Hampstead at 10 p.m. on Feb. 22 with the checkpoint following immediately.
If you have any questions, please contact Lieutenant Pat Fisher of the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office at 410-386-2900.
Just to add: they don't need a "Grant" to do their jobs.
Surely, these checkpoints are against the 4th Amendment, Why do the "Keepers of the Constitution" allow them to occur in Carroll County?
Drug busts are based on search warrants that are based on reasonable cause. Please explain to me the "reasonable cause" to stop several hundred cars for 4 dui arrests and 1 illegal weapon arrest, as was the recent result in Harford County. Especially when a checkpoint requires at least 10 officers who could probably arrest twice as many impaired drivers on routine patrol on a Friday or Saturday night.
This, the court said, is because the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution requires that police have a justifiable suspicion of driver intoxication or some other reasonable basis for pulling a vehicle over and conducting a search. By notifying the public of checkpoints, the police are essentially giving fair notice to drivers and satisfying the Fourth Amendment in the process. If the public did not have sufficient notice that they could be stopped by police for essentially no reason, the checkpoint would constitute an unconstitutional detention without reasonable suspicion.
"Yes, the public must be given advanced notice of the checkpoint— including, the time and location. On the day of the checkpoint, signs are also positioned to notify drivers of the event in advance enough to avoid the checkpoint. The goal is always the reduction of collisions, particularly serious collisions, along with providing for the safe and efficient movement of traffic. Whether that is accomplished through enforcement, arrests and citations, or education provided by the news media and information handed-out by uniformed officers at checkpoints, every person that acts on the message to not drink and drive and report intoxicated drivers is potentially one less collision, and a life saved. It’s inarguable, drunk and/or drugged driving is deadly."