EPD lands another “traffic safety grant” to harass drivers with warrantless checkpoints
Staff Report
Humboldt Sentinel
Another year, another round of federally-funded Eureka Police Department roadblocks to demand documentation from innocent drivers.
After a year of so-called “DUI” checkpoints across the City of Eureka where drunk drivers usually weren’t in evidence, the EPD proudly trumpeted their receipt of an $80,463 grant of ‘free money’ from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for yet more roadblocks.
“Historically, Eureka’s traffic crashes are above the state average,” interim police chief Murl Harpham stated in a release. “ The work done with this grant funding will allow the City of Eureka’s Police Department to lower that rate, while saving lives and preventing injuries.”
The main catch of alcohol-impaired drivers by EPD this last year occurred when a checkpoint was cancelled due to bad weather — the police to be assigned to this roadblock were instead sent out on traffic patrol, where they pulled over drivers due to their behavior and not en masse.
EPD will have new toys to play with in the new grant as well, as the Office of Traffic Safety’s award included four mobile radar reader boards and a new laser radar. Yet most of the funding will continue to be spent on demanding documentation from drivers in semi-militarized roadside stops reminiscent of dictatorial regimes throughout history.
“Thanks to the dedicated hard work of agencies like the Eureka Police Department, California has the fewest traffic fatalities since 1944,” OTS director Christopher J. Murphy stated in a release. “While this is good news, we know that only by keeping the pressure on through enforcement and public awareness can we hope to sustain these declines and save lives.”
Traffic deaths in California declined by 11.9% between 2009 and 2010; although alcohol-related traffic deaths saw an even sharper decline, DUI-related fatalities were still responsible for more than 30% of all traffic deaths. OTS and police spokesmen were unable, however, to substantiate how checkpoints related to these statistical changes — the only source cited was the NHTSA, the very agency awarding the grants.
Local law enforcement also plans more targeted operations which don’t involve blanket sweeps against innocent citizens. According to EPD senior traffic officer Gary Whitmar, these include court stings where DUI offenders with a suspended or revoked driver’s license gets behind the wheel after leaving court.
Grant requirements will also mandate the training of two officers to give them specialized instruction on detecting drivers under the influence of drugs — illegal and even legal ones. This training is expected to provide these cops with the capacity to make on-the-spot assessments of drivers at the warrantless checkpoints.
Additionally, EPD and the OTS will be pushing motorcycle safety enforcement operations — even though motorcycle fatalities were at 353 statewide last year, a 37% drop from 2008. These activities will include increased patrolling of areas where motorcycle crashes and incidents have taken place.
“We are on the right path with declining fatalities,” said Murphy. “We have to stick to that path so that some day we can reach the vision we all share — toward zero deaths, every 1 counts.”
