Police to Patrol for DUI Violations Friday on Pulaski Highway
State police and local officers in Baltimore and Harford counties will patrol from Rosedale to Joppatowne.
Maryland State Police released information about the van of a Westminster man who was stabbed in his home early Saturday.
Maryland State Police
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Maryland State Police and Baltimore County police officers will join in a multi-jurisdictional DUI patrol Friday night on Pulaski Highway.
The patrol, scheduled from 11 p.m. Friday to 3 a.m. Saturday, will seek to identify drivers under the influence of alcohol or drugs, Baltimore County police said in a news release.
What the release called a "saturation patrol" from Rosedale to Joppatowne will also include officers from the Harford County Sheriff's Office. The patrol is partially funded with a grant from the Maryland Highway Safety Office.
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Kiley Saeed
5:53 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
I'm confused. Why announce that this is being done? Isn't that ridiculously counter-productive?
JBL
8:03 am on Monday, January 28, 2013
Its actually the law that they have to announce when they are going to do sobriety check points. Other wise its considered entrapment.
Johnny Yuma
9:28 am on Monday, January 28, 2013
You will not see a "check point" in Baltimore County. It's a saturation type patrol.
Gil
6:48 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
Drunks don't read.
anna
7:57 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
Really...what a waste of time,effort and money to advertise what your going to do!! Pulaski highway is loaded with drunks all weekend, but probably not now
Gil
7:37 am on Saturday, January 26, 2013
Anna you are correct that the location of the checkpoint is selected because of the probability of drivers on that section of road attempting to drive drunk. As for advertising it, for one it eliminates the entrapment attempt to get around the law in court, in addition it causes some people to drink less, it causes some drunks to leave the bar early or take a designated driver with them, in any case it has proven to be a part of the effort across the country to curb impaired driving that works. The next news about this effort will be the number of arrests that night from the sobriety checkpoint. Something the slick drunks fail to understand is there will be a significant number of drunks arrested that night leaving the bar early drunk and on the alternative routes to stay off of the road where the sobriety checkpoint is set up.
In any case, believe it or not, it does save lives.
anna
8:10 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
So pretty much we as (tax payers) pay police officer's to sit together and bull shit for hours why every drunk goes another way..... js
John L.
8:17 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
A reminder: The folks who live just off the highway WELCOME all the Law Enforcement they can get. It just might keep some of the bad guys out of their neighborhoods in the future.
THANX guys, and be careful out there.
Scott Sewell
8:58 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
I hope they lock up every jackass who feels the need to drink & then drive! I have no sympathy for drunks!
Gil
7:40 am on Saturday, January 26, 2013
Proof that this is working is the number of bars with a record of serving impaired patrons that have gone out of business!
CR
11:22 am on Saturday, January 26, 2013
Will there be a press release with the number of contacts / arrests made from the effort last night?
Gil
5:39 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
I suspect the snow kept the drunks off the road last night causing a low arrest event!
stephen zaleski
10:00 pm on Saturday, January 26, 2013
Drove all the way from Nashville on Friday.......12 hour drive thru rain, fog, ice, and snow.........never saw a cop anywhere....until I came off of I-95 and onto Pulaski Hwy. Cop cars every eighth of a mile. We were pulled over by a MD State Trooper within a mile of home for "no lights on license tag". After the trooper takes license and registration back to his patrol car, he returns with "For some reason your tag lights are now working so I won't need to write a repair order". The lights never were out at all.......just dim because of all of the salt spray from 12 hours of driving. Gee, I feel so much safer now.
Gil
6:40 am on Sunday, January 27, 2013
The officer was doing his job and should be congratulated. Spot checks lead to arrests every day when the record is pulled up by the officer, removing dangerous people from the law abiding population. Perhaps you have seen the scanning devices on patrol cars recently, generally located on the rear portion of the patrol cars. In addition to the tag scanners on the patrol cars, tags are scanned at toll collection for the same reason. That is to find people with outstanding warrants and other violations.
JBL
8:07 am on Monday, January 28, 2013
Actually, I think this is an example of abuse of power. Police need a real reason to pull you over. They can't just randomly ask people for their ID just to do it. I appreciate the effort the police are doing to cut down on drunk driving but they must follow the law as well. The problem with this behavior is had the driver actually been drunk the case could get thrown out of court had the defense been able to prove the officer did not have a legal reason to pull the car over in the first place. The drunk gets away with a DUI.
stephen zaleski
5:50 pm on Sunday, January 27, 2013
I still do not like it. Take this kind of activity a little further "down the road" and we may just get to the point where you might be "spot checked" at the grocery store, restaurant, at work, you name it. For me, if there is no valid reason to stop you and "check you", it is wrong. Otherwise, we will have to live in a society where everyone is viewed as a possible criminal. Also, the excuse of "to find people with outstanding warrants and other violations" by stopping vehicles is ridiculous and I reject it.
Lablover
2:41 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013
JBL, the trooper who pulled over Stephen Zaleski did have a "reason" to pull him over, even though it's not much of a reason it was a legitimate stop. Stephen said the trooper indicated the rear tag light was out. That in itself could have resulted in the trooper issuing a "safety equipment repair order" but obviously the trooper realized the light was working but covered up by the salt. Certainly not a serious violation by any means.
Gil
3:44 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013
Actually in the state of Maryland, and I suspect most states, a police officer can stop any driver without reason simply as a spot check. That has been the law for as long as I have been driving, which has been a very long time!
FIFA_archived
4:18 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013
Gil, you'll need to find some links to support that one, it is not true.. There is this constitutional problem with that. That said, cops don't have to be very creative to find a reason.
Lablover
5:36 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013
Gil, FIFA is correct that Police need a "reason" to stop your car, a traffic violation they observe, possibly the vehicle description is broadcasted to "be on the lookout", a safety defect, etc. Only commercial vehicles can be stopped without a reason and that has to deal with conducting a motor carrier safety inspection and only by "certified" inspectors but this is totally different then a car stop.
Gil
6:43 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013
The reason involving this thread is the subject of the thread, Police patrol for DUI violations. That is an ongoing operation. Police are very creative, the reason is close at hand for stopping anyone at anytime.
FIFA_archived
6:47 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013
Here's the bigger problem Gil. If the purpose is to catch people driving home intoxicated, why make it difficult. Send undercover officers into the various bars and observe who is drunk. Stop them before they drive out of the parking lot. Instead they wait until they get on Route 40 or Belair Road and hope to see who is weaving?
Of course, bar, tavern and restaurant owners would scream at the top of their lungs about the lost revenue. Thus we are stuck with the system we have and the mayhem that results.
Gil
7:29 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013
Do you really think in the years of DUI enforcement your idea has not been tried? Obviously this kind of enforcement yields the greatest number of drunks.
FIFA_archived
7:34 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013
Actually Gil, they don't wait inside. Instead they sometimes sit in the parking lots at The Avenue. The jail is nearby and they do a good trade. I seriously doubt driving up and down Route 40 yields more drunks than watching the patrons at The Avenue. There are a lot of restaurants/bars there with more than enough drunks driving home.
The FOP just has a political problem, how do they ask for donations from the very businesses that they would hurt? So they wait outside. Less obvious that way.
Gil
7:45 pm on Monday, January 28, 2013
Bar owners hate drunks as much as MADD does, they give bars a bad reputation.