Latest Sobriety Checkpoint Updates

Last Update:
Wednesday, August 23    8:00pm

Next Update:
When we hear about them....
And for sure every Friday afternoon....

For an article explaining CA Smog Checkpoints
Click Here

OCSD = Orange County Sheriff's Department
Saturation Patrols = Specially trained extra Police on the roads, looking just for DUI's
Text us 714.390.5190 if you see anything out there on the streets

Here's most all the Speed Traps in the U.S. listed by city  www.speedtrap.org 

Alert motorist txt'd inWednesday, June 25 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Police cannot inspect or search your Cell Phone without a Search Warrant. For an article Click Here

Big Nose Dept:  LAPD has been collecting information on every license plate in Los Angeles whether or not a crime has been committed. Big Brother much?  Click Here

What's the deal with all these Smog Checkpoints in CA?  Are they voluntary?  Click Here for the OC Register article.

Have you been nabbed by a Red Light camera in California?  Check out www.highwayrobbery.net to get information on how to fight snapshot-camera tickets.

Here is another resource to fight Red Light Camera tickets, Click Here for the article.

California Court decision:  Drivers can look for mapping directions, iHeart etc. on a mobile device while driving without getting a Cell Phone Ticket.  Click Here

LAPD says street crime is down, so they are moving more cops to Traffic Enforcement. Other agencies expected to do the same.   Click Here 

LA Police Chief Charlie Beck says publicizing DUI Checkpoints is a good thing - Click Here for article

America's Roads have been turned into a Revenue Generating Surveillance Grid - Click Here for article

12 States either prohibit or do not allow DUI Checkpoints.  A 1990 U.S. Supreme Court case ruled that they are legal, but Checkpoints infringe on our civil liberties, are an ineffective way of catching drunken drivers and should be done away with.  Random PD Patrols are far more effective and less costly, but are not as sensational as all those flashy Checkpoints.  And DUI Checkpoints gather overtime for the cops, and reimbursement from Uncle Sugar or Uncle Jerry.

MADD honored a Costa Mesa, California Police Officer who popped 432 (!!) Drunk Drivers last year.  Click Here

Almost all those Smartphone Aps that say they track the DUI Checkpoints are totally worthless.  Sometimes they list info that is texted in by drivers, but none of them monitor the news sources ahead of time like we do.  Plus we also put up listings right
away when unannounced CP's are discovered by alert motorists out there at night.  Flash:  Blackberry and now Apple have dropped all DUI location Apps from Cellphone use, under pressure from the U.S. Congress.  Click Here for the USA Today article.

People ask why we don't publish this earlier for the weekend, and it's because 1) the PD's sometimes don't put out info until the last minute and 2) there are some copycat sites (mostly attorneys, ehhh) who know that we have the most and best Orange County info, so they copy the listings when we put them up.  Dirty.....

The PD's are supposed to announce Checkpoints in advance, but we have found that sometimes they use small publications, so very few people know.  And sometimes they don't announce them at all, figuring that drivers caught are not likely to contest the charges.   Be careful out there.

Some thoughts on why and how DUI Checkpoints exist, and how they seem to target ethnic groups.   Click Here for the article from the Orange County Register

Here's an article on AB1389, which would dramatically change the way California Police must conduct Checkpoints.  They are doing DUI checkpoints now at 10am, noontime, whenever.... just to catch and impound cars for the $$$.  Click Here for the article.

Santa Ana urged to stop impounding cars   Click Here for the OC Register article.
 
OC cities really do impound a lot of cars vs. DUI's -- Click Here for the article

One of the local DUI attorneys tries to charge for alerts you can get here for free.  And Apple and others are being pushed to prevent the Apps from working.  Censorship?   Click Here for the article from the Orange County Register

In LA the PD has revised it's policy regarding non-DUI related offenders snared at Checkpoints.  Cutting way back on impounding cars.... it's a start.  Click Here for the article from the Los Angeles Times

This is guaranteed to make you wonder how these Checkpoints can continute to operate, in clear violation of the law.  Click Here for a News Video from PBS suggesting  that the impounding of cars is illegal and unconstitutional.

Alert motorist txt'd inHere's some fresh info about what to expect re: OC DUI Checkpoints in 2010-11:  The State of California is set to expand DUI Checkpoints -- a 50% increase.  California may have the largest Checkpoint Program in the country this year, with an extra $8M in funding.  Click Here for the article about this from the Sacramento Bee.

State of California announces this year as the "Year of the DUI Checkpoint". More than 250 checkpoints planned by the CA-OTS - Office of Traffic and Safety.  Click Here for the Press Release and article.

Here's some thought provoking - and provocative - articles about Checkpoints:

Are Checkpoints Police Profit Centers??  DUI checkpoints are major money makers for the police, even though they don’t have either a deterrent effect on DUI's, or result in many DUI arrests:   Click here for the Article  

DUI Traps --  Snag more cars than drunks, target minorities, UC Berkeley investigation finds:    Click Here for the Article

DUI Sobriety Checkpoint and Saturation Patrol information for most Orange County, California cities, including: Irvine, Brea, Buena Park, Corona del Mar, Cypress, Fountain Valley, Fullerton, Newport Beach, Costa Mesa, Anaheim, Tustin, Santa Ana, Huntington Beach, Garden Grove, La Habra, La Palma, Laguna Woods, Long Beach, Aliso Viejo, Laguna Niguel, Lake Forest, Los Alamitos, Signal Hill, Mission Viejo, Orange, Placentia, Rancho Santa Margarita, San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, Stanton, Villa Park, Westminster, Yorba Linda, Laguna Beach, Sunset Beach, Seal Beach, Laguna Hills, Dana Point, UCI Campus, and other Orange County, California cities and unincorporated areas.

Please see the Disclaimer below.

Saturation Patrols are specially trained two man Police teams that cruise the city specifically to locate and arrest intoxicated drivers. Typically there are several teams out at the same time.

Quote from the Newport Beach PD:  "The major value of checkpoints is their educational and deterrent influence on the motoring public,"

Interesting article, from the Orange County Register --
DUI checkpoints of dubious value, legality:
http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/opinion/abox/article_1393748.php

Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) estimates that communities that consistently use sobriety checkpoints experience as much as 8 times the reduction in DUI incidence as communities that use roving patrols alone.