Collegiate Times

Ever wondered what actually goes on at a sobriety checkpoint? On November 3, 2006 the Virginia Tech Police Department, in cooperation with Montgomery County Sheriff's Department and the Virginia State Police, conducted a sobriety checkpoint, Operation Checkpoint Strikeforce, at two locations on campus.

At the two locations, one on Washington Street and one on West Campus Drive, police worked diligently to check 857 vehicles, according to Officer Geof Allen of the Virginia Tech Police Department. "The Virginia Tech Police Department would like to thank the entire Virginia Tech community for their cooperation during the Checkpoint Strikeforce operation," Allen said.

The checkpoint from November 3 caught three people driving under the influence, 14 underage possessions of alcohol, one narcotics violation, two hrefusals, two drunk in publics, six no operator's license, one driving suspended, three K-9 searches, five equipment violations, 13 inspection violations, six safety belt violations, three expired registrations, one illegal u-turn and 12 other charges, Allen said.

"In simply five hours, three DUIs were driving on Virginia Tech's road. In the dark, with the roads and sidewalks covered with students …" Allen said. "Think about it."

Andy Koch, a junior management major, did not go through the checkpoint on the 3rd, but he did go through one at home in Midlothian, Va. He was on the way home from the movies with a friend. "It was around two in the morning — they shined a flashlight in the car and asked for my license," Koch said.

Koch said he never heard about the results of the checkpoint, but he did say there were cars pulled over to the side of the road that were not proceeding through the checkpoint."It was in a residential neighborhood," Koch said about the checkpoint location. He also said it was a two lane road patrolled by four police cars. Koch said after the police checked his license, they handed it back to him and allowed him to continue home. "It took like one minute," Koch said.

Joey Sadler, a senior psychology major, drove through the checkpoint on West Campus Drive. "I drove through it three or four times, but they didn't stop me," Sadler said. "I don't know if they weren't fully set up or what … but I mean, they looked like they were."

Sadler said she did not see other cars stopped at the checkpoint ahead of her or after she went through, but she also said that not many people were driving on the road at the time she went through the checkpoint.

So what actually happens at a checkpoint?

"Blacksburg, Christiansburg and Montgomery County all do (checkpoints) in their respective jurisdictions," Allen said. "Each car is checked, but if there isn't an odor of alcohol nor a violation of some type (e.g. no tags), then they are only there a very brief period of time. As you can tell with the numbers, the vast majority is sent on their way. The only way that passengers are checked is if there is reasonable suspicion to; for example, heavy odor of alcohol coming from car, and everyone in the vehicle appears underage. That would be investigated."

Allen offered some sobering statistics about last year, when drunk drivers injured 7,512 people. Allen also said 322 people in Virginia alone died as a result of a drunk driver last year.