DUI checkpoints

I thought that this was a funny exchange in comments section of a story about a local lady who got arrested at DWI check point.

Someone complained about Patch not posting the notice of pending check point and this was editor's response:

"Police sent an email to Patch, I got too busy and didn't post it because it slipped my mind. It happens. It wasn't a high priority, but it was worth posting. None of the five news organizations covering Darien provides you with all the news, so I encourage everyone to read a mix of them. The others are also online: Darien's Hamlet Hub, Darien Times, Darien News, Darien Daily Voice."

 

Got pulled over on my way home from the office one night at around 1 a.m. Cop said I was "weaving." He asked if I had been drinking, and he looked very disappointed when I said I had just gotten off work. Pissed me off. We should not be profiled simply for working the late shift. And I think DUI checkpoints are bullshit. I understand the need to get drunk drivers off the street, but I think it violates my rights and wastes everybody's time. Police are trained very well to spot drunk drivers, so they should stick to that.

 

I always thought getting drunk-checked was kind of funny, but I guess it didn't happen often enough to become a nuisance. Maybe once or twice a year.

 

DUI check points can be entertaining. I like to never look the cop in the eye and provide inaudible answers. Drives them crazy

 

If I'm driving home at 1 in the morning, I don't want to sit in line for this if I am just on my way home from work. Don't see how driving after midnight on the weekends, as I do every weekend, is probable cause no matter what the numbers are.

 

--"Been drinking tonight, sir?"
--"No, but I'm fixing to have one when I get home from work."

 

Exactly what I told the cop who pulled me over last time. Still aggravated me that he pulled me over for no reason, said I was "weaving," clearly looking to bust me for DUI. Still ,that's better than waiting in line at a checkpoint and being presumed guilty because I work nights.

 

I don't care for the slightest assumption I am committing a serious crime. And that is often the direct question being used.

If somebody is disheveled, slurring, looks fucked up and smells like a brewery when he rolls the window down, then ask him if he's been drinking. Looking sober is not an easy thing for anyone to fake, even if acting sober occasionally is.

 

DUI checkpoints are pure bullshit. They assume guilt. The three nights in a row I was pulled over, a checkpoint only accounted for one of those. Cops in the Midwest are way more aggressive than cops in the PNW and don't mind breaking rules of probable cause at the drop of a hat.

The third night I was pulled over I kept insisting to be told why I was stopped. Cop told my my tags were expired. I told him they didn't expire to the end of the month. He responds with a: "You know, a lot of people think that, but yours have a March sticker, that means they expire on March 1st, not March 31st. But I will let you go tonight with just a warning."

Me: "No, I want the ticket. If I'm breaking the law, I deserve a ticket and insist on seeing the judge and apologizing to his face. My father, a retired Washington State Patrolman, taught me to own up to my misdeeds. Please write me the ticket."

"Have a nice night, Mr. Petty."

That fucking lying prick.

 

Not that you're bitter. I know for a fact I did nothing wrong the night I got pulled over. Was a bit tired after a night at work, but the prick didn't even pretend like he was going to give me a ticket once I told him I just got off work. Just assumed I was drinking because it was 1 a.m.

 

ha. come on ... three nights in a row? i actually woke the wife up when i got home after the third night i was so ... bitter. ; )

 

When I worked in Minnesota, I made sure every light in the car worked before a large country music festival came to town, or else I'm sure I would have been hassled by the state patrol. The sheriff's deputies never bugged me though, as I knew a lot of them.