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Motorcycle Only Checkpoints. Protecting Or Profiling Bikers?
I got this in my email today and thought I would share it with the riding public. I was not aware this was happening in my state. It happened in the eastern part of the state but I am sure it will creep over to the western part of the state where I live. Just pisses me off that they are trying to pull this crap. They need to educate the text messaging cagers before they stop the motorcycles. IMO
Published by Cyril Huze October 28th, 2009 in Editorial. As far as I am concerned, and I just checked again the definition of “profiling”, to organize motorcycle only checkpoints fits perfectly in the register of discriminatory tools creating a kind of social sorting and segmentation with very unfair effects on bikers. You may or you may not know, if you didn’t experiment it, that motorcycle only checkpoints are more and more frequent in the US. Last example of this police practice was in North Carolina at the beginning of the month. A Holly Ridge motorcycle checkpoint was organized near jacksonville, NC with state officials justifying it by stating that it was “to protect the motorcycle rider and his passenger”.
So, they didn’t stop cars because they didn’t want to protect as much car drivers and their passengers!?!? This checkpoint was the second statewide and part of a new initiative by the Governor’s Highway Safety Program. Singling out motorcycles on the highway is discriminatory, said Janice MacKay, director of the N.C. chapter of B.O.L.T. (Bikers of Lesser Tolerance). In response to MacKay’s complaints David Weinstein the program’s director stated that “Studies have shown that this method of traffic law enforcement is most effective in encouraging voluntary compliance with highway safety laws. A motorcycle checkpoint is not designed to discourage operation of motorcycles but to protect the driver and passenger because motorcycles are more difficult to drive than automobiles”. MacKay, who recently lost a bid for an N.C. Senate seat, is of course not satisfied with Weinstein’s answers. She sent a letter to Gov. Bev Perdue calling for an immediate end to what she calls motorcycle profiling. Have you ever been victim of police profiling? Tell your story
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It's a popular thing for leo's to pull around here. The river road (rt. 100 which runs from Alton, IL to Grafton, IL) is a very popular place on a weekend summer day for them to set up. No place to turn around, no warning. And yes they will direct all bikes (an only bikes) off the road to check for license (valid with M endorsement), registration, and insurance. Just this past summer if you failed to have any one of the three, your bike was loaded on the back of a flatbed truck, and you were stuck with a ticket and a wait for a ride home. You got your bike back after you showed proof that you now have whatever it was you were missing and of course after you pay for the impound fees!! Last I checked if a cage got pulled over and had no insurance, the driver was ticketed and allowed to drive off!
IMO it is profiling. There are just as many cagers out there (if not more) driving with no license, no insurance, expired registration, etc. Oh but they have to be caught doing something else (speeding) before they can be pulled over and checked for that sh*t. What ever happened to leo needing probable cause, or needing to have reasonable suspicion in order to stop someone? What ever happened to the law that states that if your not under arrest (or being questioned in relation to a crime), a leo cannot detain you, and if he/she does so is considered unlawful detainment and a violation of your rights?
Last edited by tumbleweed883; 10-29-2009 at 06:12 PM.
What ever happened to leo needing probable cause, or needing to have reasonable suspicion in order to stop someone? What ever happened to the law that states that if your not under arrest (or being questioned in relation to a crime), a leo cannot detain you, and if he/she does so is considered unlawful detainment and a violation of your rights?
__________________ "Magna Res Est Vocis Et Silentii Temper Amentum"
(The Great Thing Is To Know When To Speak, And When To Keep Silent)
I had a friend tell me they were running helmet checks coming off the Outer Banks after the end of Fall rally.
Typical North Carolina logic. Myrtle Beach pisses off bikers and sends all the biker revenue up the coast. North Carolina then runs down the bikers and their money and sends them someplace else.
__________________ You don't stop playing because you get old.
...What ever happened to leo needing probable cause, or needing to have reasonable suspicion in order to stop someone? What ever happened to the law that states that if your not under arrest (or being questioned in relation to a crime), a leo cannot detain you, and if he/she does so is considered unlawful detainment and a violation of your rights?
As a former full-time LEO, I usually finds these threads interesting.
If you are referring to the 4th amendment, you should know that any expectation of any right to privacy is considerably lower for motor vehicles. Most courts recognize what is known as the automobile exception because of exigent circumstances.
With respect to questioning or detainment, the rules of evidence are also lower until such time that the one being questioned becomes a suspect in a crime.
Yes, there are far too many cops out there that are dinks and take advantage of law.
As a former full-time LEO, I usually finds these threads interesting.
If you are referring to the 4th amendment, you should know that any expectation of any right to privacy is considerably lower for motor vehicles. Most courts recognize what is known as the automobile exception because of exigent circumstances.
With respect to questioning or detainment, the rules of evidence are also lower until such time that the one being questioned becomes a suspect in a crime.
Yes, there are far too many cops out there that are dinks and take advantage of law.
Hope that helps!
It does help, and I understand that 99% of leo's doing these stops are only doing what they were told they had to do for that day (whether they agree with it or not). And I'm not in any way bashing leo's (it's the system thats f**ked up). Still dont make it right to single out one certain vehicle on the road while others are allowed to pass unquestioned. Let me pose a different scenario...
Most gun related crimes in St. Louis are done by black males. This is not a racial statement, but a fact based on arrest statistics, police reports, etc. So if I (assuming I was a public official) use the excuse that I'm keeping public safety in mind and trying to lower gun related crimes, then would it be legal for me to stop every black male I see and search him for a gun (keep in mind I will let everyone else pass unquestioned)? The answer is of course is HELL NO! I'll be branded, sued, and punished for profiling. EVEN THOUGH my criminal statistics show that the majority of gun related crimes are done by black males...I still could not get away with it.
Stopping just motorcycles is the same damn thing in my book, and this is coming from someone who has all his legal ducks in a row and dont have to even worry about getting busted at these "biker only" stops. Officials are taking one group and saying that they are either a threat, in some way unlawful, or just making sure that they are not unlawful and singling them out to undergo a form of search. The search is for legal documentation. In CA some years ago a female officer was sued and fired from the department because she stopped a Hispanic woman. When the driver could not produce a state issued I.D. the officer asked if she had a green card or any other form of I.D. The officer was accused, sued and lost her job for racial profiling (turned out the woman was a U.S. citizen, she just didnt have a license).
Though we are not a "race" bikers, like many racial cultures, are singled out every day and asked to prove themselves without any just cause to do so. The difference? We for some reason are made to accept it. The day I see a road block stopping nothing but cars, and allowing bikes to pass is the day I will think differently on the issue. Bottom line. You cant randomly stop a black man and ask him if he has a gun, you cant randomly ask an Hispanic for their green card, you cant stop only teens leaving the mall and search them for stolen goods, and you shouldnt be allowed to stop only bikers in search of their legal documentation.
Ok, I'll jump off the box now...next.
Motorcycle Only Checkpoints. Protecting Or Profiling Bikers?
As far as I am concerned, and I just checked again the definition of “profiling”, to organize motorcycle only checkpoints fits perfectly in the register of discriminatory tools creating a kind of social sorting and segmentation with very unfair effects on bikers. You may or you may not know, if you didn’t experiment it, that motorcycle only checkpoints are more and more frequent in the US. Last example of this police practice was in North Carolina at the beginning of the month. A Holly Ridge motorcycle checkpoint was organized near jacksonville, NC with state officials justifying it by stating that it was “to protect the motorcycle rider and his passenger”.
........ I say follow the money!
'02 Ultra & '96 1200 Custom Sportster.
