Police have begun pretending to use illegal checkpoints in an effort to flush out people carrying drugs, a tactic that is drawing attention from the state's top civil liberties group.
A fake checkpoint went up Wednesday and Thursday on southbound I-65 near the Marion County line on the Northwestside, netting at least one driver who police said had marijuana.
A multiagency law enforcement team set it up so that any drivers hoping to avoid the bogus checkpoint must make an illegal U-turn or try to make an unsafe exit. Either way, officers stand ready to pull them over.
Authorities say they will let drivers go who have committed no crime -- but believe they'll catch their share of drug dealers and at least deter drug traffickers.
"All we're doing is observing any conduct," said Maj. Scott Robinett of the Marion County Sheriff's Department. "We set up traffic enforcement zones to interdict any illegally transported narcotics."
Attorneys said the ruse was legal, Robinett said, before officers moved ahead with the plan.
But the approach bothered John Krull, executive director of the Indiana Civil Liberties Union.
"What they're threatening to do is something illegal, in the hopes of pushing people to do an illegal activity," Krull said. "Obviously, I'd like to see our legal staff take a look. It might meet the letter of law, but it clearly violates the spirit."
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that drunken-driving roadblocks and random drug testing are allowed under the U.S. Constitution. But three years ago, the country's highest court, ruling in an Indianapolis case, refused to expand those roadblocks to include random checks for drugs.
Nationwide, fake drug checkpoints aren't new. News reports show they occurred in places such as Chattanooga, Tenn., in 1997 and southern Louisiana in 1994. And in 2002, the Missouri Supreme Court approved the use of phony roadblocks to catch drivers in possession of drugs.
In Marion County's operation, drivers come upon a sign reading "Narcotics checkpoint ahead" in both English and Spanish.
Marion County sheriff's deputies and park rangers, in marked and unmarked cars, wait for drivers to make illegal U-turns or commit other traffic violations in a two-mile stretch between 71st and 86th streets, giving police "probable cause" to make a stop and search the motorist's vehicle.
An officer in an ATV also regularly scoots along the interstate shoulder to see if anyone has thrown out drugs before getting to the checkpoint.
Robinett, who commands covert operations for the Sheriff's Department, said he hopes the public will see the stops as a benefit. Law officers involved are asking for consent to search vehicles when they feel they have probable cause to suspect a crime, he said. More fake checkpoints are in the offing along both I-70 and I-74.
This week, deputies set up the bogus checkpoints in northwestern Marion County and parts of Boone and Hendricks counties along the key artery from Chicago, a potential source of illegal drugs headed to Central Indiana.
In three hours Wednesday, police stopped 16 vehicles. Officials said a 39-year-old Lafayette woman was arrested on a preliminary charge of marijuana possession and received tickets after a deputy said he saw her drive south down I-65, see the signs, cross the median and turn into the northbound lanes.
http://www.indystar.com/print/articles/7/063839-1187-092.html
A fake checkpoint went up Wednesday and Thursday on southbound I-65 near the Marion County line on the Northwestside, netting at least one driver who police said had marijuana.
A multiagency law enforcement team set it up so that any drivers hoping to avoid the bogus checkpoint must make an illegal U-turn or try to make an unsafe exit. Either way, officers stand ready to pull them over.
Authorities say they will let drivers go who have committed no crime -- but believe they'll catch their share of drug dealers and at least deter drug traffickers.
"All we're doing is observing any conduct," said Maj. Scott Robinett of the Marion County Sheriff's Department. "We set up traffic enforcement zones to interdict any illegally transported narcotics."
Attorneys said the ruse was legal, Robinett said, before officers moved ahead with the plan.
But the approach bothered John Krull, executive director of the Indiana Civil Liberties Union.
"What they're threatening to do is something illegal, in the hopes of pushing people to do an illegal activity," Krull said. "Obviously, I'd like to see our legal staff take a look. It might meet the letter of law, but it clearly violates the spirit."
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that drunken-driving roadblocks and random drug testing are allowed under the U.S. Constitution. But three years ago, the country's highest court, ruling in an Indianapolis case, refused to expand those roadblocks to include random checks for drugs.
Nationwide, fake drug checkpoints aren't new. News reports show they occurred in places such as Chattanooga, Tenn., in 1997 and southern Louisiana in 1994. And in 2002, the Missouri Supreme Court approved the use of phony roadblocks to catch drivers in possession of drugs.
In Marion County's operation, drivers come upon a sign reading "Narcotics checkpoint ahead" in both English and Spanish.
Marion County sheriff's deputies and park rangers, in marked and unmarked cars, wait for drivers to make illegal U-turns or commit other traffic violations in a two-mile stretch between 71st and 86th streets, giving police "probable cause" to make a stop and search the motorist's vehicle.
An officer in an ATV also regularly scoots along the interstate shoulder to see if anyone has thrown out drugs before getting to the checkpoint.
Robinett, who commands covert operations for the Sheriff's Department, said he hopes the public will see the stops as a benefit. Law officers involved are asking for consent to search vehicles when they feel they have probable cause to suspect a crime, he said. More fake checkpoints are in the offing along both I-70 and I-74.
This week, deputies set up the bogus checkpoints in northwestern Marion County and parts of Boone and Hendricks counties along the key artery from Chicago, a potential source of illegal drugs headed to Central Indiana.
In three hours Wednesday, police stopped 16 vehicles. Officials said a 39-year-old Lafayette woman was arrested on a preliminary charge of marijuana possession and received tickets after a deputy said he saw her drive south down I-65, see the signs, cross the median and turn into the northbound lanes.
http://www.indystar.com/print/articles/7/063839-1187-092.html