Sobriety checkpoints have been a valuable tool for law enforcement's continuing fight to remove impaired drivers from the road. The purpose of the checkpoints is twofold; to apprehend impaired drivers at the physical location of the checkpoint; and secondly, to increase the "risk of apprehension" in those who might decide to drive while impaired. The legality of checkpoints has been questioned on numerous occasions in the courts. The ruling indicate that certain standards must be upheld when operating checkpoints. This report has compiled the court ruled requirements and put them together in the form of guidelines. The guidelines can be used by police agencies to formulate individual polices governing the use of sobriety checkpoints. This will put a degree of uniformity in the operation of sobriety checkpoints and give departments much needed information on the requirements and procedures they should use. This report comes at a time when many agencies are reinstituting sobriety checkpoints. The report contains guidelines to govern the establishment of departmental policy and procedure; a briefing guide that can be used for personnel staffing the checkpoints; a set of questions that can be utilized on questionnaires for public comment and feedback; and, a model policy which can be adopted by individual departments.
Abstract