Temporary Halt to Sobriety Stops

The Summit County, Ohio drunk Driving Task Force Director has left his post, bringing a short-term stop to the police sobriety checkpoints.  The director resigned the one year program after signing up to head the program for least 24 months. The sheriff's department has applied for a government funds to support the states sobriety test on the public roads.

Last year’s grant to the state of Ohio incentives were grants federal money funneled through the state amount to just over $200,000 per year. Many residents are not sure how long the state will take to make a decision on the appropriation of fund to the local municipalities. The process is well definitely be decided before state lawmakers and would lead Ohio out of this problem and into the group of eleven states that have passed a bill that pulling over citizens without reasonable cause is a violation of the 4th Amendment.

It is proven that police alcohol road tests aren't that good at catching drunks. Mobile police units are at least four times more effective.  Many police aren't getting the impression that a driver is impaired or a bad driver -- they have a more difficult time figuring out which drivers should be given road side alcohol tests. That makes them more likely to charge someone who is below the state limit, because they could be blamed if they let the driver go and the driver gets in an accident.  Charging people who are below the legal limit also means that prosecutors have a harder time getting a conviction for driving under the influence.