Fishing for DUIs in Goleta

"Ido not know how many other fatalities were averted by the cooperative crackdown on people driving under the influence. However, we who benefit from preventive measures can contribute to our own safety by calling 9-1-1 whenever we spot a likely impaired driver. No need to wait for the holidays."

True. Additionally we need to recognize that one does not have to be legally drunk to be dangerous. I'm seeing commercials now that say "buzzed driving is drunk driving". The underlying problem however is that we live in a culture that pretends that "social drinking" is harmless.

Telling these people that it's not ok to have a drink or two and then hit the road is like telling people give up sex.

Boycottboy stop with your rhetoric already. We all know you got arrested downtown after a night of heavy drinking. Stop crying about it already....

Vic,

Thanks much for giving us some good insights to this process. As much as we want to stop problem drinking and driving, we are all concerned when police stop our cars without probable cause.

You have helped explain how non-intimidating this can be for law abiding drivers who know not to indulge before getting behind the wheel.

“We’re letting people know we’re cleaning up the streets.”

Whatever, Lahey.

Has anybody considered whether these stops are even Constitutional? I don't care how self-righteous you are, if it isn't Constitutional then they shouldn't be doing it. Even though our politicians and government don't seem to like and certainly don't follow the Constitution, that just means these people are enemies of freedom.

Searching on a roadway partially owned by myself without a warrant or any reasoning whatsoever is definitely a violation of 4th amendment rights. Driving at night is not "probable cause" for anything. In addition, why don't we have screaming baby checks? Or loud radio checks? Or how about bitchy girlfriend in the passenger seat checks? While not being themselves illegal, they could all cause drivers to drive "recklessly" which is in fact a crime in most places. "Sorry sir, your child is screaming way too loudly. I cannot in good faith allow you to endanger the other drivers on this road. Can you step out of the car please?"

Why were the cars towed? The person could have called a friend to pick up the car. Because the driver had a problem, such as no license, does mean the police can take the car. That is like saying because the carburetor is bad, the whole engine has to be thrown away.

This towing and paying mandatory fees to get your car back out of the pound is unacceptable. This Blackwater contract the sheriff's department has with the towing companies makes money for the towing companies at the people's expense.

Poor people lose their cars because they cannot pay, people on a paycheck have to lose a week's pay to get their car back so they can go back to work, and even those who can afford it pay a hidden fee of hundreds of dollars to get their car back.

This is a scam. It is cruel and unusual punishment.

The sheriff's department and the city police department's should have their own towing yards and at reasonable rates that reflect justice and not the profit towing companies want to make.

dumbass cops should be out patrolling the streets looking for vandalizing and responding to crimes. ive heard cops love the checkpoints since they get to hang out with their buddies and let the cars to come to them instead of doing actual work. what a waste of $

Bird is absolutely right, these stops hurt poor people the most. This is more about a war against poor people than a war against drunk drivers. Poor people are already under enough duress. Let them live their lives. If they happen to get pulled over for doing something dangerous, then check their license and registration. Otherwise let safe drivers be so that they can continue to be as productive as possible and hopefully get their lives together. This isn't helping anybody except draining paychecks of poor people to help fund law enforcement. People who need to have money for things like car registration as well as feeding their children.

Can anyone spell "probable cause"? While I agree that DUIs are a problem, I do not agree with the gross invasion of personal liberty and privacy known as "checkpoints".

I lean toward the camps of loonpt, Bird, and JohnLocke, but need to add that, driving is still a *privilege*, and NOT A RIGHT, which I believe end-runs around the 4th-Amendment, Search and Seizure, protection argument.

As for the "War on the Poor" kind of thinking--if one has more to lose, by breaking the rules/laws, then perhaps more attention should be paid to one's actions. To quote JohnLocke, from a post to another article, "I favor. . . maximum personal responsibility."

Uh, no Crackatoa (interesting name, emphasis on crack?), the opposite of probable cause is not freedom to drive drunk. Guess you need a bit of education in shades of gray, huh?

Bottom line....385 drivers had their right to probable cause violated that night, and NO drunk drivers were found. The fact that you haven't yet been able to pay off a ticket (and most are in the outrageous range of $300-500 -- who can just DO that in a one-month timeframe?) does not make you a dangerous driver, It should not result in your car being impounded so that you can't go to work to continue trying to raise enough to pay those ridiculous sums and make yourself legal again. This isn't about drunk driving, or "keeping the streets safe"...it's about money. And, as many before me have pointed out, its about harassing all the working poor until they stop tackying up Santa Barbara and leave all of the beautiful rich people alone.

How nice it would be if we didn't have all these bars and cops to contend with.

I wonder how many people see the cause-and-effect at play here?

"And, as many before me have pointed out, its about harassing all the working poor until they stop tackying up Santa Barbara and leave all of the beautiful rich people alone."...

And they pretend that the nouveau riche trend of wine tasting and driving is harmless. Of course, we're not told how much wine people are allowed to "taste" before they hit the road.

Here's a thought: don't drive drunk! Thankfully we have police to keep these morons off of the street!

How 'bout that war on killing and maiming by drivers under the influence??
It's perfectly fine w. me that law enforcement is out checking for impaired drivers on weekend nights, even if they do get to visit w. their compadres at the same time.

If drinking is so important, stay home to do it!