Waze forum

How about a lil icon for checkpoints?

You can report these as a general Hazard (don't select On Road / On Shoulder) and write in a description.

OldGnome wrote:Why would you report a DUI checkpoint? I am certainly not interested in helping drunk drivers stay on the road.

Please explain.

CT State Police announce the locations of DUI Checkpoints - see: http://www.ct.gov/despp/cwp/view.asp?Q=514332&A=4226 click that link to see a PDF of the scheduled checkpoints / targeted enforcement areas. Basically what this means is they have officers that are specifically assigned to this & unless something major happens they won't be dispatched to other calls...

daknife wrote:Report it for the traffic impact.

and the fact that there will be lane closures/restrictions/narrowing, people in the road, etc...

pogglywoggly wrote:Why not add registration/inspection checkpoints

Why not report it? These checkpoints effect traffic, pose a hazard (barriers, lane closures, police cars, officers in the road, etc)

pogglywoggly wrote:...as well as giving road construction it's own dedicated tab

That's been suggested several times - it's own report would also allow for easier descriptions/lane closure info...

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You can also use the report... police and type a description before hitting send.

daknife wrote:I'm not one hundred percent certain, but I'm fairly positive the public notice is a federal requirement imposed by the Supreme Court.

Sort of, SCOTUS basically requires that there are safeguards, the NHTSA recommends the safeguards, but public notice isn't a federally established requirement. But in California the requirement established by the CASC is that "Advance publicity is necessary to reduce the intrusiveness of the checkpoint and increase its deterrent effect." And there's a pretty good chance if a DUI checkpoint was set up in another state without notice it'd end in a case going to the state supreme court and there being a similar finding.

So is notice required everywhere in the US? No. Is it in the police department's best interest in giving notice so that the legality doesn't get challenged? Yes.

Very good post daknife.

I just file them as a police report. If I can I give details.

OldGnome wrote:Why would you report a DUI checkpoint? I am certainly not interested in helping drunk drivers stay on the road.

Please explain.

Report it for the traffic impact. It's not like the locations are secret, by order of the Supreme Court they must publicize the location of any such check point several days in advance.

It's not a crime to help publicize a checkpoint. And the only drunks that are going to get caught are the ones too drunk to turn around when they see the check-point. As per SCOTUS in Michigan v Stitz, the ability of the drivers to turn around at any point up until they actually enter the checkpoint is a key factor in determining whether or not said checkpoint meets constitutional muster. If a driver is unable to turn around before entering the checkpoint it then becomes a case of unlawful detainment and the entire checkpoint is a constitutional violation, and any arrests made during the checkpoint get thrown out.

And to be honest such checkpoints are a waste of resources. How many man hours go into manning a check point(the last one I went through had a couple dozen officers from multiple jurisdictions, Light/generator carts and so on), and they will usually only catch one or two(the last one I went through caught zero), whereas the same number of man hours spent patrolling in their assigned AO's will catch dozens. Helping any and everyone avoid a checkpoint may cut the numbers caught down low enough to get them to realize what a waste of time, effort and tax dollars they really are.

Reporting checkpoints is very unlikely to keep any drunks on the road as they are unlikely to be caught anyway, whereas if the officers were out patrolling they would be much more likely to get the drunks.

And FYI full disclosure, I am a tee-totaler who's never had a drink in his life and who would be happy to see much greater restriction put on alcohol consumption (I acknowledge that prohibition proved that wont work) and much greater penalties on those caught driving intoxicated.