As Orange County drunk driving criminal defense attorneys, we were not surprised to see that multiple police agencies set up DUI checkpoints for the July 4 weekend. According to the Orange County Register, police departments in Irvine, Cypress, Buena Park and Westminster set up checkpoints at major intersections to look for drunk drivers. Most of the checkpoints operated from Saturday night until early Sunday morning, although one started on the evening of Friday, July 2. The result was at least 22 arrests of people found to be driving under the influence, the newspaper said.
According to the article, Irvine police alone stopped 331 vehicles over eight hours between Saturday and Sunday. The roadblock at Alton Parkway and Culver Drive resulted in one arrest on suspicion of driving under the influence, along with five sobriety tests, and 37 citations for violations not specified. In Cypress, two people were arrested on suspicion of DUI, three were arrested on outstanding warrants or drug charges and 17 were issued citations. Five people were arrested in Buena Park for unspecified violations, and Westminster did not make arrest information immediately available. Another 47 people were arrested in Orange County throughout the weekend by the California Highway Patrol, which did not run a reported checkpoint.
Our Anaheim DUI criminal defense lawyers pay close attention to checkpoint information because we have doubts about the efficacy of the checkpoints, as well as their fairness. One criticism of DUI roadblocks is that they cost a lot of money, but make very few arrests. If we look at the information from Irvine, the only city with complete information about how many people were arrested and stopped, we can see that of 331 people stopped, exactly one was arrested. That's a success rate of 0.3%, lower than most cash-strapped municipalities might want. Another criticism of sobriety checkpoints is that they're really intended to make money for the police agency, by finding violations for which the police can impound the vehicle and charge high impound fees. The information on the Cypress roadblock reinforces that suspicion, because it specifically says officers screened for licensing violations and arrested 11 for lacking a valid license. In addition to balancing the budget on the backs of drivers, this practice inconveniences all of the legal and sober drivers who pass through the checkpoint.
HOWARD | NASSIRI PC vigorously defends DUI cases that originated with sobriety checkpoints. Courts have ruled that DUI roadblocks are legal, despite the Fourth Amendment, but that doesn't mean police officers can ignore all civil rights concerns. Our San Clemente intoxicated driving criminal defense attorneys will still vigorously defend our clients' rights against improperly located, supervised or advertised checkpoints. We can also raise any of the defenses available in an ordinary drunk driving case, including defenses based on illegal searches or other civil rights violations, improper testing or handling of test results and more. A DUI is not a trivial matter in California, in part because a conviction revokes your driver's license. If you're charged with intoxicated driving, you shouldn't hesitate before calling us for help.
HOWARD | NASSIRI offers free, confidential case evaluations, so you risk nothing by speaking to us about your rights and your case. To set up a meeting, call us today at 1-800-872-5925 or send us a message online.
