Pulled Over after Drinking and Driving

[Aramike]

Originally Posted by roman2440

Some statistics from the STA program:
http://www.county.milwaukee.gov/Imag...rceResults.pdf

Specifically that there were 225 traffic stops, and of those 152 citations were written.



If indeed the only reason they cited for pulling you over was as a random traffic stop, then indeed he violated your civil rights, in Wisconsin at least. Some states allow this, some don't. Those that allow such a thing do so on the basis that you know the traffic stop is there, and thusly you are knowingly heading into an area where you could randomly (or otherwise) be stopped.

As far as I can tell WI is one of those states that does not. I imagine that if you got a ticket for DUI from this (say you were wrong and were above .08 BAC) that you could've had it thrown out.

I totally agree that DUI checkpoints (and this STA program if implemented in the way you describe - that is that they pull people over without at least first observing some violation) are abominations and should be done away with. The logical macro extension of DUI checkpoints is checkpoints to check on other things in public places, and eventually leads to the police state. I cannot think of what I'd have to fear as a law-abiding citizen today, but I do not know what the future holds.

That doesn't mean you can't saturate an area with police and follow lots of cars - and pull over any that you can catch with even the minorest of violations. Thats fine - at least the initial point of contact was related to something they have established control over and agreed upon rules. Its not ok to just pull someone over because they happened to be there. We have due process for a reason.


As for the smell of alcohol in the car, you stated your wife was smashed drunk - so even if you didn't have any alcohol on your breath, the officer is sure to be able to have probable cause due to your wife. Again that wouldn't give him legal basis to conduct the traffic stop, however, if he did have a good legal basis for the traffic stop, he definately had probable cause to request BAC testing.

Good post, roman. Actually, I'd looked up those same stats the night of the incident. While the raw numbers are impressive, I believe it's a situation of whether or not the ends justify the means (which is the reason I started this thread, as I thought the discussion would be interesting. Some people, including yourself, have made it so).

The reason for the STA program is due to checkpoints not being permitted in the state. Essentially, Sheriff David Clarke (who's a Democrat sheriff, a former Republican mayoral candidate, and altogether an odd fellow and company are attempting to circumvent the restrictions on checkpoints in the state. A discussion on whether or not this was right or wrong was my goal and unfortunately some people took it as an opportunity to get personal.

As far as the car smelling like alcohol due to my wife, good hypothesis based upon details, although I still don't believe it was an issue.

Finally, like Haplo said, you're definitely a good, thoughtful addition to the GT community. Welcome aboard!