Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, May 8, 1993 TAG: 9305080082
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
"That would have been great," Sgt. Chuck Mason said.
The fact that the only drug arrests were for small amounts of marijuana - misdemeanor charges that likely will draw fines when the five suspects go to court - did not discourage authorities.
Mason said the main objective Thursday was to "work the bugs out" of a procedure that police plan to repeat.
For four hours, police placed two flashing signs on northbound Interstate 81, a half-mile before the Dixie Caverns exit, that warned motorists: "Police Drug Search Ahead."
But there was no roadblock on the interstate. Instead, police were waiting on the Dixie Caverns exit ramp - hoping to find someone who was hoping to lose them.
After asking each exiting motorist for an operator's license and registration, police explained they were looking for drug dealers and asked permission to search the cars.
Everyone had the right to say no and drive away. But 105 of the 107 motorists consented to a five-minute search.
Authorities justified the short inconvenience with a more important mission.
"Interstate 81 is one of the major highways recognized as a pipeline for large amounts of illegal drugs and other contraband," Mason said.
"When it comes into Roanoke County, it becomes our problem."
While civil libertarians argue that the checkpoints harass innocent motorists, lawyers said the tactic was clearly within the law.
Randy Leach, a Roanoke County prosecutor who consulted with police before the operation was approved, said the key issue was addressed by U.S. and Virginia Supreme Court rulings that found sobriety checkpoints to be legal.
Courts have held that temporary delays caused by police checkpoints are justified in light of the dangers caused by drunken drivers - or, in this case, drugs.
"Obviously we wanted to catch as many dopers as we could," Mason said, "but we also had to consider what is reasonable in terms of inconvenience to the general public."
In researching the case, Leach said he could find no other similar drug checkpoints conducted in Virginia.
Prosecutors were concerned about creating dangerous traffic backups, one reason why police selected an exit with relatively little traffic. Another requirement was that police check every car to avoid singling out individuals.
"We realized that to make it fair and to make it legal, we had to ask every vehicle that came through," Mason said. "You can't pick and choose."
Mason said police officers were "not intimidating or coercive" in asking permission to search the cars. He said the motorists were asked - but not required - to step out of their cars as a team of officers conducted searches that lasted three to five minutes.
Roanoke lawyer Jonathan Rogers, who has worked with the American Civil Liberties Union in the past, accused police of trampling on individual rights in their losing war on drugs.
He questioned the wisdom of using 50 police officers to conduct the checkpoint when there are unsolved murders, assaults and burglaries they could be working on.
"I think the police are wasting their time and the taxpayers' money to destroy personal freedoms in their all-consuming desire to arrest people trafficking drugs," Rogers said.
He called it "too dear a price to pay for a losing battle" against drugs.
In an elaborate effort to find major drug dealers, police ended up "busting five people, who were in their cars and bothering nobody, with some reefer," Rogers said.
He also questioned how "voluntary" the searches were. "Human nature tells me that people normally don't consent to being searched when they are carrying contraband," he said, "unless they feel they have no choice."
Police said the two motorists who would not agree to a search were allowed to drive away with no questions asked.
Of the five people charged with possession of marijuana, three were apprehended after the drugs were found during the searches. One person was seen trying to hide marijuana under a car seat, and another was approached after he stopped his car on the interstate in an effort to dispose of incriminating evidence.
Police declined to identify the people arrested, saying their names were not immediately available. They were described as three women and two men, ages 19 to 43. Four were from the Roanoke Valley.
Instead of taking the suspects into custody, police issued summonses instructing them to appear in court on the misdemeanor charges.
Several other people were charged with driving on suspended licenses and other violations that came to light during the checks.
Police also had drug-sniffing dogs at the roadblock. It didn't happen, but if a dog detected drugs in a car, that would have given police probable cause to search the vehicle without the driver's permission.
Now that police have conducted a trial run during hours of relatively low traffic - 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. - they plan to select a busier time and location for the next checkpoint.
Mason said most people who agreed to have their cars searched expressed no concerns with the checkpoint.
"The tone of the people we searched was very friendly," he said. "We had a number of positive responses to the effect that people were glad to see somebody out there doing something about the drug problem."
by CNB