random drunk driving check
 

i was pulled over yesterday night for no reason at all. cop said i was swerving (i wasn't but he has to give me a reason obviously) asked me if i drank at all, ran my license, and i was on my way within five minutes. it made me feel a little better about driving through that neighborhood that teh cops will stop random people like that to check for drunkards; especially since my gf and quite a few of my friends live there (east brunswick). anyways, what do you guys think about that? do you think its a good idea?

not a bad thing, but were you really swerving?
if not it's :bs:

getting randomly pulled over to be hassled about nothing won't lead to anything positive IMO

that sucks the eb cops are gay theyll piss u off for no reason they have nothing better to do and when the cop sais your swerving, dont take it, be like no i wasn't do you mind telling me why your wasteing my time right now

Ask the pig why he's harassing a law abiding citizen who only races at a track(Island,etown or Atco) and upkeeps his vehicle rather than pulling over one of those scofflaw imports!

if you so much as touch the center lines, any line in the road seperating lanes, or a shoulder line, they can stop you.... not saying you did cuz i dont no the area or anything just an FYI. as for it being a good idea... DUH, with so many people driving drunk these days theres no reason a cop shouldnt bang someone for a dui eveyr night lol

well id say its a good thing, except the time i got pulled over after leaving ramapo at like 2am after walking all the way across campus in 10 degree weather...he was waiting right by the exit of the college, followed me for a bit and pulled me over. never gave me a reason, but he said my "car smelled like alcohol" - i had nothing to drink, and there had never even been alcohol in the car in my ownership of it. anyway he made me get back out of the car, freezing my sack off, doing sobriety tests on the side of the road...it was retarded. never once did he tell me why he pulled me over, he just told me to be careful because the roads get icy....

i think its a good idea that time of night, especially in that area. As long as you're not drinking, you've got nothing to worry about. Most towns DUI checks aren't set up to be a random inspection or anything, its JUST for DUI's, if you're sober, you're fine.

If you have nothing to ide...... then you shouldn't worry

doesnt work like that why should cops be able harass any one for pretty much no reason theyr wasting time b/c mean while there probably is a drunk swerving and about to get into an accident but no the cop wants to be a fag and pull over someone for no real reason which they arent allowed to do

Say the Rutts in the road were causing your car to pull in certain direction.

I have no problem with being stopped for something like that as long as they don't look at my inspection sticker. Because other then that, I have nothing to hide with a clean record to prove it.

...and then theres that one time when the drunk driver is doing nothing wrong but the cop decides to pull the guy over just to check, and gets another drunk driver off the road. I dont know why some people have it out for cops so bad, if youre respectful to them generally they will be respectful back.

I'm in agreement with alex.

I disagree a little. DWI CHECKPOINTS are money makers. The object, I'm told, is to pull over vehicles randomly. For example, every fifth or sixth car gets stopped and checked for DWI. HOWEVER, if, during a checkpoint, an officer spots the bad inspection sticker or no front plate or a headlight out, they're gonna stop the car and write a ticket for it. The administration (Police Chief) is being put under pressure by the town council to produce revenue; therefore, EVERYBODY under him is encouraged to write summonses at these checkpoints. It's the old poo rolls downhill theory. No, there are no quotas, but the cop who writes tickets advances in his/her career.

Otherwise, I'm with IROCDan. Be nice. Don't try to play lawyer on the side of the road. Because when you do, the cop writes a ticket. Then you get to play lawyer in court. And even if you win, the cop still wins because win or lose, the cop is still making big fat overtime money to show up for your case.

i know all the cops in my town and my friend just got promoted to sgt, i watched as a bunch took the sgt's test and went through interviews and the whole nine yards, they dont care if you write a thousand tickets a month, doesnt get u promoted to sgt. it goes to seniority and how well u test and interview.

if you have a problem with the money making end of things, and you think the chief is forced to tell his men to write tickets, you better take it out on the town council's and mayors, not the cops or even the chief.... think a little before you people speak and sound like ********!

not talking abou tickets so save your breath, were talking about getting pulled over for NO REASON

I was coming home about three months ago from my friends house in Hammonton. about 5 minutes into the ride my cars top radiator hose fell off cause it was faulty. anywho, I put it back on and since it was 11 at night noone was open, so I went down the white horse pike and stopped to allow it to cool down, then drive again, and so on. well the place I thought might of been open had a random check in front of it, and I was stuck in traffic. Finally I got up to him and the guy said where you coming from, I told him, he asked if I drank anyhting, I said no, and he said have a good day. I eventually got water abotu a 1/4 mile down the road at a bar. Now wheres this story going? well the checkpoint was on the east bound lane and the bar was on the west bound, past the checkpoint!!! and they werent doing it on the west bound side..... there was alot of people pulled over in the parkign lot next to the check so you are right, they were lookign for lights out, bad sticker, etc, but hey its their job, I think they're great things, but they're only great when you dont have alot of coolant lefti nyour system and almost over heat, and is on the wrong side of the road, but other then that, im for them

It's a privilege to drive, not a right to drive. Getting pulled over is part of the privilege of driving. They don't need to give you the reason for pulling you over. That's why driving a car with things like no front plate, windows tinted too dark, loud exhaust, no cats, lights out, etc. are just more of a reason to pull you over and check for other violations like DWI. There's no reason to get upset at a cop who is doing his job.

most of the "no reason" related check point stories i hear are from people who just left a bar, club or walked out of a restaurant that serves drinks late. leaving a bar at 2am certainly does raise the question of whether or not someone is ok to drive.
i would prefer it if the officers would pick one of two paths for these things though. either pull the car over and say right away that it is a random DUI stop and since the driver jsut left the bar they are a candidate to be checked or follow the car for a while and see if they do anything erratic or weird.
i have gone through a lot of check points on different holiday weekends and never had any problem. i have been asked if i was drinking when puled over on other occasions as well without anything coming of it. it is just like any other time you deal with the police, just answer their questions and don't act like a tool and everything is 99.999999999999999999999999999% likely to be fine.

They may not need to give me personally the reason they pulled me over, but they do need probable cause. While driving is a privelage, it isnt the Polices job to enforce/deny that privelage. Thats why we have the MVC.

This issue is kinda like a double edged sword. Im all for the Police getting unwanted drunk drivers off the roads, but I am not for them just pulling people over for whatever reason they feel like.

thats my thoughts exactly.

The MVC doesn't have patrol cars enforcing the MVC laws. The cops do that. Hence the cop's job is to enforce the privilege.

I've only been through one checkpoint, on the night before Turkey Day when I was waitressing down in Browns Mills. They told me right away that it was a random checkpoint, asked if I'd been drinking, where I came from, where I was going, and I was on my way. :shrug:

I'm ok with checkpoints if they are stopping everyone or stopping everyone who comes out of the bar nearby. I'm a little less ok with pulling people over without probable cause, but understand that it is part of the priviledge. If it was a right to drive, I'd have a difference stance on the matter.

You're missing my point. Police are here to make sure we obey the laws. The MVC is the one that grants and or denies us the privelage to drive, NOT the Police.

You are absolutely right, maroman. Thing of it is, interviews are a huge part of the equation. So if you score a hundred on the written, you are doing very well, but if you bomb on the interview, you can still be surpassed by someone who scored lower on the written. Now, the interviews USUALLY (Different towns have different issues) consist of the knowledge of Attorney General guidelines, state traffic and criminal law and departmental policies and procedures. There is also a portion of interview that deals with the officer's resume. What have you done while on the job here? Now, if you walk into that interview with a lot of in service training under your belt, you're doing well. You're doing even better if you are an aggressive officer who doesn't just sit in the car for eight hours doing nothing unless you're called.

What I'm saying is, in police departments, opportunities for career enhancement go to those who show self initiative, such as interviewing suspicious persons and making motor vehicle stops and issuing summonses. The aggressive officers are the ones who are sent to schools to better themselves, and they are the ones who get promoted. So yes, cops do better their careers by writing tickets.

I'm the son of a cop who just retired, and I have a lot of friends on The Job too, so I'm not badmouthing any of them or trying to 'take anything out' on them. The fact is, the police department IS a business in some respects. If the town council is going to okay a department's request for more police cars, you'd better believe they're going to expect something in return. The fact is, DWI checkpoints generate money. Am I saying do away with them? No. I'm saying that if you are driving through one with no front plate or a light out or a bad inspection sticker, it's probably going to generate a summons. That was my point.

Now, for procamaro, I too disagree with being pulled over 'for no reason.' I'd just rather hear the cop out and answer any questions peacefully without starting a debate on the side of the road. You're not going to win it there. If you're going to win it, it'll be in court. Arguing with the cop isn't going to solve the problem. What's next? Refusing to pull over because you believe you did nothing wrong? Just do what you gotta do and move on. Best of all, don't give the cop any ammunition. A lot of stops are recorded now and the tape is discoverable (Can be seen in court), so it goes a lot better if you're calm and not argumentative.

.....and who do you think the MVC gets the information about people's ability to safely persue the privilege of driving?
the police have a tough job and i am not going to fault them for having to follow a hunch every now and then. i know when i see someone weaving down the road i always wonder where the cop is or at least where the cops are going to have to respond to whenever the pinhead in question crashes.
BTW, MVC pretty much just processes paperwork. they don't really care who does or doesn't drive. the laws as enforced and the judges who's job it is to dispense justice once someone is found guilty are the ones who decide if you have a license or not, and they get all their info from the police.

If I'm not doing anything wrong then I shouldn't be pulled over, PERIOD. The "you were swerving" excuse is just ********. It's just a reason for them to pull you over and bust your balls. The whole "if you're not doing anything wrong then you have nothing to worry about" thing is complete BS. It's not a matter of doing anything wrong then you shouldn't be bothered, PERIOD. Give them an inch they take a mile. I guess everyone that's not doing anything wrong is ok with the Patriot Act too right?

I have no problems with cops and I DESPISE DESPISE DESPISE drunk drivers. You're putting my life at risk by being a dumbass. However, to randomly pull you over for no good reason isn't something I'm fond of. I don't care if driving is a right or privilege, harassment is illegal, PERIOD.

..and before any jumps on me my dad's side of the family is filled with cops, one of which is more powerful than anyone here knows...I still don't subscribe to half of the ******** tactics "some" cops pull. I respect cops and I'm thankful for the job they do but leave me the hell alone if I'm not doing anything wrong.

I'm with Frosty 100%. If I did something wrong fine, but if I'm just out driving the car I'm sick of the escort or cop pulling me over because I "chirped wheels" or my "exhaust is too loud" just so they can give out their quota of warnings and/or tickets. If my exhaust is "too loud"(stock 1972 dual exhaust) why didn't he pull over the ricers with the fart can exhaust and bass tube stereo that went by?