Thursday, April 05, 2007

DUI Checkpoints

The Ohio State Highway Patrol and the City of Cincinnati announced a DUI check point for Friday night somewhere in the city to be announced tomorrow morning. Apparently, the police have nicknamed the weekly event as "Shake Down a Bengal Tonight."

What they didn't announce is the bank robbery check point at a Key Bank in town, an assault with a deadly weapon check point on Liberty and Vine, and a child molestation check point at a local elementary school.

Really, it occurs to me that DUI and speeding are the only offenses where the police camp out and spend large resources to find offenders. Is it really a public safety issue or is it really a shakedown of the public for money?

I noticed that in last week's checkpoint they cited 105 out of 711 drivers for failure to wear a seat belt. It's a good thing to because you know those unlawful no seat belt guys, if you don't crack down on them it'll become a gateway to bigger crime like jaywalking or armed robbery.

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