What do they do at sobriety checkpoints

[dowagercountess]

when they don't wave you through?

I went though my first one last night, and I was disappointed to be waved on through.

[Deleted]

I would assume they would give you field sobriety tests. We don't have checkpoints like that around here, though, so that's only a guess.

[3rdgrdteach]

We went through one last weekend after a concert. They stopped, asked us if we had anything to drink, we said no, he said not even one, we said no, he said have a nice day.

[angelaa73]

Basically you are getting totes profiled

[Robot Jen]

I went through one in a college town on NYE one year. They stopped and questioned everyone that went through. I allowed them to do a quick look in my car, and they asked me a barrage of questions about where I was going, where I had been, etc. They were shining a flash light in my eyes when they asked me, and I guess they were looking for signs of inebriation in my eyes/checking if I could keep up with their questions. I had a fast food cup of diet coke in my car. They asked to sniff the cup and I let them.

I imagine it was such a thorough search being that it was a college town.

[kellbell191]

Ooh a question I know! They are looking at 1) your appearance. To see if you have indicia of intoxication like odor of alcOhol on your breath, glassy, watery eyes, etc. 2) evidence of illegal activity in plain view. Sometimes they have a drug dog on call in case they see something.

You'd be shocked by the number of people that have their crack
Pipe in their center console.

[Deleted]

When I got pinged for one, he checked my license and registration, asked me where I was headed and then got assy with me because I don't have a sticker on my license plate. He said that meant my registration was expired.

I had to as kindly and politely as possible inform him that they didn't use stickers on the plate in Texas, that the sticker was on the windshield right where my finger was pointing. (I was in KY at the time.)

I think maybe he was drunk.

[pinkplasticdoll]

I always see commercials for these checkpoints but have never seen one in person. I live in Texas so they advertise the shit out of checkpoints around holidays.

[Deleted]

I've never seen a sobriety check point.

[PinkSquirrel]

We went through one a few years ago over Memorial Day weekend. A friend had died a year earlier and it would have been his birthday, so we all got together at his sister's place and spent the night remembering, laughing, crying and drinking ... heavily. My H had maybe 2-3 beers earlier in the night, but had stopped drinking hours before we went home. I, on the other hand, was far from sober.

So, they come up to the window at the check point, as H if he's had anything to drink, he tells the truth, then they ask where we're going and I pop into the conversation and start rambling on and telling the cop about my dead friend's birthday party. That poor cop. He let us go on our way because clearly my H was sober, but when we pulled away my H was all can you ever keep your damn yapper shut for 5 minutes?

[Deleted]

Sept 2, 2012 23:06:34 GMT -5 kellbell191 said:

Ooh a question I know! They are looking at 1) your appearance. To see if you have indicia of intoxication like odor of alcOhol on your breath, glassy, watery eyes, etc. 2) evidence of illegal activity in plain view. Sometimes they have a drug dog on call in case they see something.

You'd be shocked by the number of people that have their crack
Pipe in their center console.

Wrong. That's what they say they are doing. But basically, they are looking to see if you are young, a black or Hispanic male, or in a big, rowdy group. If you don't fit those parameters you'll be waived through unless you reek of alcohol.

Sobriety checkpoints are of dubious constitutionality - in my opinion they are a complete violation of the 4th amendment, and there are a million ways to get evidence collected at a checkpoint dropped.

[dowagercountess]

Damnit. I appear to be Hispanic, I am black, but I am a female. I wanted to prove my sobriety, damnit.

[pantsparty]

Thankfully, someone made a video of the last time I went through a sobriety checkpoint.

[Deleted]

Sept 3, 2012 11:41:54 GMT -5 dowagercountess said:

Damnit. I appear to be Hispanic, I am black, but I am a female. I wanted to prove my sobriety, damnit.

I have been told that, as a female, if you travel with a group, wear clubbing clothes, blast 80's music, and look nervous, you can also be profiled.

[pbear]

The ones in my area stop every vehicle to check license, registration, plates, etc. The only time I've ever been waved through without having to show anything is when I'm in an emergency vehicle.

[kellbell191]

Sept 3, 2012 11:38:30 GMT -5 elle said:

Sept 2, 2012 23:06:34 GMT -5 kellbell191 said:

Ooh a question I know! They are looking at 1) your appearance. To see if you have indicia of intoxication like odor of alcOhol on your breath, glassy, watery eyes, etc. 2) evidence of illegal activity in plain view. Sometimes they have a drug dog on call in case they see something.

You'd be shocked by the number of people that have their crack
Pipe in their center console.

Wrong. That's what they say they are doing. But basically, they are looking to see if you are young, a black or Hispanic male, or in a big, rowdy group. If you don't fit those parameters you'll be waived through unless you reek of alcohol.

Sobriety checkpoints are of dubious constitutionality - in my opinion they are a complete violation of the 4th amendment, and there are a million ways to get evidence collected at a checkpoint dropped.

Yeah, I'm in Virginia. They're almost always upheld. We also get a boatload of funding because of them.

[Deleted]

Sept 2, 2012 23:58:00 GMT -5 pinkplasticdoll said:

I always see commercials for these checkpoints but have never seen one in person. I live in Texas so they advertise the shit out of checkpoints around holidays.

I've seen a shitton in San Antonio and Austin.