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Making sure checkpoints and traffic stops are fair to all state residents

Posted on July 16, 2009 by Staff

Sarah Preston

In recent years, North Carolina has witnessed a number of unfortunate incidents in which law enforcement roadblocks and traffic stops have resulted in unfair or unjust treatment of persons of color, especially persons of Latino origin. Now the General Assembly may be doing something about it.

First, a little background:

In early 2009, the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina Legal Foundation sent public records requests to approximately 40 law enforcement agencies across North Carolina for information on roadblocks or checkpoints run by each agency. This came as a result of reports that in some areas of North Carolina checkpoints were regularly set up outside Latino churches, flea markets or in predominantly African-American and Latino communities in the early-evening rush hour.

Sadly, the results of this public records request have done little to put the organization at ease. In the boxes of documents received from the State Highway Patrol, one thing in particular jumped out: checkpoints set up in and around Alamance County.

Starting in late 2007, the State Highway Patrol began setting up license checkpoints in Alamance County or on the border with Orange County. In 2007, the State Highway Patrol set up 173 such checkpoints, or approximately three license checkpoints per week. Of those 173 checkpoints, 30 were set up in exactly the same spot at the same time: Saturday or Sunday mornings outside Buckhorn market, a weekend flea market with a predominately Latino consumer base. Attendants at Buckhorn report that approximately 80 percent of those attending the market are people of color.
On the weekend of June 23-24, 2007, a license checkpoint was set up outside the market on both Saturday and Sunday mornings.

Current state law requires that checkpoint locations be selected randomly or be statistically indicated. It also directs law enforcement agencies to avoid placing checkpoints repeatedly in the same location or proximity. Unfortunately, as the events in Alamance demonstrate, something more has to be done to assure that innocent North Carolinians are not targeted for police searches merely because of their race or ethnic background.

This year, the General Assembly has a chance to address these concerns, with two bills intended to help monitor the use of checkpoints. One, Senate Bill 759, would add to the current law that requires checkpoints to be run according to written guidelines. It would require that law enforcement agencies also have written “patterns of stop” prepared before the checkpoints begin. The bill would not prevent stopping a car when the officer has reasonable suspicion that the driver has done something illegal. It would mean, however, that state residents who have some concern about discrimination at a checkpoint could find out exactly what the pattern of stops at that checkpoint was supposed to be.

A second measure, Senate Bill 464, would help identify (and hopefully discourage) racial profiling at traffic stops by requiring more frequent and detailed reporting by law enforcement agencies. The same bill would also provide important protections for the safety of children when their parents are arrested, as happened in an infamous Alamance County incident. Never again should it be reported that children spent eight hours unsupervised on the side of the road waiting for a parent to arrive from out of state after their supervising parent is arrested following a traffic stop.

Unfortunately, a provision in the bill that would have required law enforcement agencies to report the race or ethnicity, approximate age and gender of every person stopped during a license or DWI checkpoint (as is already done for traffic stops) was removed from the bill in response to pressure from law enforcement.

One of the bedrock principles of our free society is the notion that justice is colorblind, that innocent people should not be subjected to harsher or more frequent interaction with law enforcement officials merely because of their race or ethnicity. As recent incidents in North Carolina demonstrate, however, we have a long way to go before this is achieved, particularly when it comes to police checkpoints and traffic stops. Most agencies don’t engage in racial profiling, but it clearly remains a serious problem in our state.

At this point, the two bills described above have passed the Senate and await action in the House of Representatives. Let’s hope that before they adjourn the 2009 session this summer, state lawmakers complete work on both. Though far from perfect, each represents a small but meaningful step toward assuring (and documenting) that law enforcement officials perform their important duties in a fair, just and nondiscriminatory fashion. Especially in this era of tough economic times and heightened tensions in our immigrant communities, both would provide a welcome salve to the wounds that help divide our communities.

Sarah Preston is legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina

1 thought on “Making sure checkpoints and traffic stops are fair to all state residents”

  1. Mark Thomas says:
    July 17, 2009 at 6:52 am

    If we already have a law requiring checkpoints to be randomly placed and not repeatedly placed at the same location, why do we need another law stating that they must abide by the first law?

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