spending on sobriety checkpoints beginning in July.
The move follows criticism by some Republican lawmakers who question the
effectiveness of checkpoints and raised concerns about whether they represent
unreasonable searches and violate due process rights.
The goal of checkpoints is to deter and catch impaired driving. Police still
can conduct checkpoints, but they can’t pay for them with that funding.
Missouri Department of Transportation Highway Safety Director Bill Whitfield
said some agencies cancelled checkpoints planned for the summer in response to
funding cuts.
The roughly $20 million in federal funding will go instead to saturation
patrols, which involve positioning extra officers in unannounced areas to watch
for signs of drunken driving before pulling over drivers.
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