Highway Patrol Decides Not to Use ‘Sniffer’ Device in Sobriety Checks

An electronic sniffer dubbed an “extension of the officer’s nose” won’t be used after all by the California Highway Patrol at highway sobriety checkpoints.

“Some people felt this (device) could be construed as excessively intrusive,” said CHP spokesman Sam Haynes.

The gadget resembles a large flashlight. It would have been placed near an open car widow. A sensor in the device determines whether the odor of alcohol is present.

The CHP announced last week that it would begin using the electronic devices starting early next year.

But Haynes said CHP Commissioner Morris J. Hannigan “feels very strongly that the campaign to get (drunk drivers) off the road is not going to succeed without widespread public support, and the response to this device was that there was somewhat less than normal support.”

American Civil Liberties Union spokeswoman Elaine Ellinson said, “We felt this form of random sensing was an intrusive search, and we opposed it; we are happy that it will not beused.”

CHP officers, however, will be using another device by the end of the year at the random stops, Haynes said. It is the size of a small tape recorder, with a tube that drivers will be asked to blow into. If the sensor detects alcohol, the driver will be asked to take a more definitive test to determine whether his blood alcohol level reaches the drunk-driving standard of .10%. That standard drops to .08% in January.