Voluntary checkpoints are pointless

Nobody who may be drunk would stop for a voluntary checkpoint. The idea, put forth by Police Chief Kevin Wilkinson, that drivers will be enticed to stop for the checkpoint in order to receive a coupon for a free dessert and thus risk a citation for OWI is laughable. Chief Wilkinson admits that few people will actually stop, and that those who do stop will at least be showing their support for combating drunken driving. What good does symbolic support do here? Similarly, Chief Wilkinson has said that this idea is “less about catching violators, than sending the message that Neenah police take drunken driving seriously.” My proposal is both about catching violators and sending a message. At the risk of stating the obvious, catching violators and punishing them an appropriate amount sends a much more powerful message than does a sober person’s stopping at a checkpoint to voice his or her support for a failed method of combating drunken driving. This idea does nothing other than offer a distraction from having to make a tough decision about how we as a community can truly combat drunken driving.

My proposal to combat drunken driving is one of the first proposals I added to my campaign Web site. My goal is for Neenah to pass an ordinance that allows the city to double any state penalty for OWI that occurs within the city. Alderman Nick Piergrossi correctly said the idea of voluntary sobriety checkpoints “seems like a waste of resources.” At least seven officers would be needed to operate these checkpoints, and these seven officers could much better serve and protect the city by stopping drivers that reasonably appear to be drunk, instead of by issuing coupons to sober people and by giving “educational material” to the people that need it least.

If the city’s goal is genuinely to combat drunken driving, then stopping and arresting one drunken driver by alternative means is infinitely more valuable than having the whole city show up sober for free coupons. A less wasteful but equally (in)effective method would be to merely encourage people who have committed OWI to go to the police station and turn themselves in.

 Sources:

http://www.postcrescent.com/article/20091209/APC0101/912090557/Neenah-considers-voluntary-sobriety-checkpoint-stops-for-motorists-as-way-to-deter-drunken-driving

 http://www.fox11online.com/dpp/news/neenah-police-mull-sobriety-checkpoints