Police Debate Effectiveness of Roadblocks to Net Drunks

Highway roadblocks designed to snare drunk drivers may have been so publicized by police that their effectiveness has been put into question, authorities say.

“When these things first started, there was a lot of news coverage,” said Capt. Bob Medina of the Los Angeles Police Department’s South Traffic Bureau. “Now, people are still drinking and driving, but they’re just driving in the opposite direction.”

Medina said the sobriety checkpoints are not stopping enough intoxicated drivers. The roadblocks, set up at busy intersections, use dozens of officers to monitor passing motorists to determine if they have been drinking.

“In my opinion, our conventional means of enforcement are more effective than the checkpoints,” he said.

The roadblocks are established during the late-evening and early-morning hours of the weekend in high-accident areas, usually those populated with nightclubs and bars.

‘Word Gets Back to the Pubs’

“We’re out there a couple hours, then word gets back to the pubs and the drunks have a chance to detour from the checkpoints,” Medina said. “They’re done on too much of a routine basis.”

At three San Fernando Valley checkpoint operations over a three-week period in April, only 3% of the average 637 motorists who passed through each roadblock were arrested for drunk driving.

Since last December when a Superior Court judge ruled that such random stops do not violate an individual’s rights against unlawful search and seizure, the department’s four traffic bureaus--Central, South, West, Valley--have routinely conducted checkpoints.

The American Civil Liberties Union is appealing the judge’s decision to the state Supreme Court.

Only in the San Fernando Valley, where most of the city’s drinking-related fatalities occur, were roadblocks established every week.

Deterrent Effect Stressed

Sgt. Emmanuel Valencia of the Central Traffic Bureau defended the value of checkpoints. He said it is not necessarily the end-of-the-night arrest count that is important, but the deterrent effect on the would-be drunk driver.

“We can have officers patrol high-accident locations and probably come up with a greater number of DUI (driving under the influence) drivers than at a checkpoint,” Valencia said.

Typically, it can take from 15 to 40 officers to set up and conduct a four-hour roadblock, which means less traffic officers patrolling the streets.

“But it’s not just a high head count we want, but how many we can deter from drinking and driving,” he said.

“The checkpoint effectiveness is not demonstrated just through its efficiency, but if more people know the checkpoints are out there and they expect them to be there, maybe they won’t have that drink at the party.”

Disagreement on Effectiveness

However, Medina said, motorcycle officers in his division can arrest more drunk drivers while on patrol than by operating a checkpoint. Conversely, in the West Traffic Bureau, where there are fewer driving-under-the-influence arrests, officers maintained they arrested more drunk drivers at roadblocks.

By whatever means employed to catch drunk drivers, the number of alcohol-related accidents continue in record numbers. In Los Angeles, an average of 2,000 people are arrested each month for driving under the influence.

Last year, 150,000 people were maimed, injured or killed in the county, while more than 230,000 were killed across the country in alcohol-related accidents.

“The commanding officers of the four bureaus get together once a month for a meeting and, most of the time, instead of having all our agenda items done in an hour, we end up talking four or five hours trying to come up with better ideas to combat drunk driving,” Medina said.

“Get on any Southern California freeway on a late Friday or Saturday night, and you’ll find the exception is the sober driver.”