THE SOBRIETY CHECKPOINT: A PROACTIVE APPROACH TO DWI DETERRENCE

The Highway Patrol Bureau of the Arizona Department of Public Safety has accepted alcohol involvement in statewide accidents as a direct challenge to its stated mission of providing for the safety and well-being of motorists on the state's highways. In 1982 the patrol began to address the problem through the development of a proactive program combining the use of specialized DWI patrols with sobriety checkpoints. This article reports the results of these enforcement efforts and the legal challenges which occurred. In conclusion it is stated that future use of sobriety checkpoints by law enforcement as a general deterrence measure is contingent upon the following procedural steps: provision of a statistical justification for the location of proposed checkpoints to establish a compelling need; use of a standardized operational plan to ensure that all motorists are given equal treatment any time they are stopped without probable cause; and evaluation of the impact of checkpoints upon the accident profile of both the actual location and the entire region (local or statewide).

• Corporate Authors:

  International Association of Chiefs of Police

  11 Firstfield Road
  Gaithersburg, MD  United States  20760
• Authors:
  • Deitch, L I
  • Thompson, L N
• Publication Date: 1984-7

Media Info

• Features: Photos;
• Pagination: p. 42-44
• Serial:
  • POLICE CHIEF
  • Volume: 51
  • Issue Number: 7

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Countermeasures; Drunk drivers; Drunk driving; Law enforcement; Legal factors; Measures of effectiveness; Safety; Sobriety checkpoints
• Uncontrolled Terms: Deterrence; Effectiveness
• Geographic Terms: Arizona
• Subject Areas: Law; Safety and Human Factors; Security and Emergencies;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00392451
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
• Report/Paper Numbers: HS-037 406
• Files: HSL, USDOT
• Created Date: Feb 28 1985 12:00AM