Deputies on Route 235 & Kohl's Shopping Center

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cphase43

Guest
Appears to tons of law enforcement from St. Mary's COunty Sheriff's Office along Route 235 near the base and quite a few in the parking lot of Kohl's.
Anyone know what is going on?
 
SD1492

SD1492

New Member
Jbeckman said:
Sobriety Checkpoint and Saturation patrols for impaired driving enfocement. Even at lunchtime people celebrate with alcohol then drive. Hoping to remind the public to stay safe, and practice safe driving habits.

DUI Checkpoint Underway in St. Mary's - Southern Maryland News, Charles County, Calvert County and St. Mary's County News
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GREAT, I'm sure this won't have ANY effect on the traffic tonight going home!! Oh well, I respect the law and what they do, but darn it. It's going to take me forever to get home, I'm sure of it. Oh well. Tiss the season.
 
Jbeckman

Jbeckman

New Member
Officers are running the tag reader too, for suspended licensed, wanted persons, uninsured motorists. Glad to hear it.
 
Jbeckman

Jbeckman

New Member
Law enforcement report suspicious vehicle ( think they said pick up truck) jumps curb to avoid checkpoint, and speeds away at high rate of speed. Heading north on Route 235. Trying to get officers in route.
 
itsbob

itsbob

I bowl overhand
Jbeckman said:
Law enforcement report suspicious vehicle ( think they said pick up truck) jumps curb to avoid checkpoint, and speeds away at high rate of speed. Heading north on Route 235. Trying to get officers in route.
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Thought the Supreme Court had already decided it was your right to NOT pass through a checkpoit and well within your rights to turn around.
 
B

BernieP

Resident PIA
itsbob said:
Thought the Supreme Court had already decided it was your right to NOT pass through a checkpoit and well within your rights to turn around.
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I'm suprised the ACLU hasn't challenged them again since they are claiming it's violation of your rights to have your bag searched before boarding a train.
I would think stopping you without probable cause to search for evidence that a crime was committed would also be.
I'm not for drunk drivers, but like TSA and airport security, I think we are looking in the wrong place. Do you think maybe being stationed outside a local watering hole and testing the patrons as the exit might provide better results then stopping traffic on 235 (or RT 5)?
 
Jbeckman

Jbeckman

New Member
Avoiding a checkpoint completely within your rights, but riding over the median when a turn around/avoid location to bail from checkpoint is available, driving away at a high rate of speed, then increasing your speed appears suspicious...and speeding is an offense.
Can't check BAC at the taverns/bars...but would be a great idea....gotta blow before you can drive away....above the limit for driving BAC...get yourself a cab.
 
B

BernieP

Resident PIA
Jbeckman said:
Avoiding a checkpoint completely within your rights, but riding over the median when a turn around/avoid location to bail from checkpoint is available, driving away at a high rate of speed, then increasing your speed appears suspicious...and speeding is an offense.
Can't check BAC at the taverns/bars...but would be a great idea....gotta blow before you can drive away....above the limit for driving BAC...get yourself a cab.
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I was thinking on the road outside the bar, right as they leave the parking lot.
Let's face it, the vast majority of the cars stopped on 235 today will simply be handed a pamphlet. A small minority will be tested. To me that's no an efficient use of resources. To me it's causing a bottleneck in an area that is already congested.
You want to send a message to people who are thinking of driving drunk or who do drive drunk, set up shot outside a bar. Do it on GMR around Cadilac Jacks, on 235 outside the VFW, or on 5 at the Brass Rail.
Do it from 8PM until closing. Not at midday.
 
smilin

smilin

BOXER NATION
BernieP said:
I was thinking on the road outside the bar, right as they leave the parking lot.
Let's face it, the vast majority of the cars stopped on 235 today will simply be handed a pamphlet. A small minority will be tested. To me that's no an efficient use of resources. To me it's causing a bottleneck in an area that is already congested.
You want to send a message to people who are thinking of driving drunk or who do drive drunk, set up shot outside a bar. Do it on GMR around Cadilac Jacks, on 235 outside the VFW, or on 5 at the Brass Rail.
Do it from 8PM until closing. Not at midday.
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This ranks up there as one of the dumbest ideas of the year. 40 minutes from Target to Exploration...
How about let's try this one: Take all ten units (or whatever) and post them at the intersections all the way to rt 4. Pull everybody who: Runs the lights, stops in the intersections or drives up the breakdown lane then cuts in.
We could call it a DWI, aggressive/stupid driver and education effort.
Who knows, they might actually slow the 235 aggravation rate a bit.
Cops outside of bars? Do it all the time. Go to Solomons any Friday or Saturday night.
:popcorn:
 
F

FED_UP

Well-Known Member
smilin said:
This ranks up there as one of the dumbest ideas of the year. 40 minutes from Target to Exploration...
How about let's try this one: Take all ten units (or whatever) and post them at the intersections all the way to rt 4. Pull everybody who: Runs the lights, stops in the intersections or drives up the breakdown lane then cuts in.
We could call it a DWI, aggressive/stupid driver and education effort.
Who knows, they might actually slow the 235 aggravation rate a bit.
Cops outside of bars? Do it all the time. Go to Solomons any Friday or Saturday night.
:popcorn:
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I thought that was pretty dumb to set up a so called DUI check point in the middle of 235 S in front of NFCU. I think they underestimated the heavy volume of traffic during this Christmas shopping period. I knew something was wrong when I got on Buck Hewitt from Chancellors Run rd; cars were almost backed to the fire house trying to avoid the jam the cops made. Traffic had to of been backed up for miles.
 
glhs837

glhs837

Power with Control
What cracked me up was what I read in the paper. The Sheriff said something about the fact that we have many fatalities, many of them alcohol related. Yep, but how many middle of the day on 235? Seems like someone had grant money to blow.
 
CobbWeb

CobbWeb

New Member
Legally

itsbob said:
Thought the Supreme Court had already decided it was your right to NOT pass through a checkpoit and well within your rights to turn around.
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You can turn around legally, it was the jumping curb through the median that caught thier attention.
 
D

dgates80

Land of the lost
glhs837 said:
What cracked me up was what I read in the paper. The Sheriff said something about the fact that we have many fatalities, many of them alcohol related. Yep, but how many middle of the day on 235? Seems like someone had grant money to blow.
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The paper said something about stopping "liquid lunches". Seems like a good idea to me.
 
glhs837

glhs837

Power with Control
dgates80 said:
The paper said something about stopping "liquid lunches". Seems like a good idea to me.
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Yep, and if they had actually stopped anyone, it might have seemed productive. But they didn't. 600 cars stopped, not one person popped. With +20 officers, there had to be a lot of overtime. Like the Smooth Operator program, its all about press, and spending grant money in a highly visible way, even if its not really the most effective way to gain meaningful results. You want the liquid lunch crowd, ask those folks who complained ( the article said that was the genesis, was complaints from the base and contractors) to give up actual drivers, and where they go.

Then do a real surveillance on those individuals and nail the actual offenders. If the complainants wont give up individuals, then take no action.
 
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