MANSFIELD — The Mansfield Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol announced Monday troopers will operate an OVI checkpoint to deter and intercept impaired drivers this week, likely in Richland County.
“The county where the checkpoint will occur will be announced the day before the
checkpoint, and the location will be announced the morning of the checkpoint,” Lt. Jason Murfield, commander of the Mansfield Post, said in an email.
“If you plan to consume alcohol, designate a sober driver or make other travel arrangements before you drink,” he said.
“Don’t let another life be lost to the senseless and selfish act of getting behind the wheel impaired,” Murfield said.
Operational support for the sobriety checkpoint will be provided by local law enforcement agencies, he said.
Counties around Richland County have all conducted similar OVI checkpoints this summer, including Ashland, Crawford and Knox.
Most recent local checkpoint in September 2024
The most recent OVI checkpoint in Richland County was in September 2024. Troopers, joined by Mansfield police and the Ohio Dept. of Transportation, operated a two-hour operation on North Trimble Road.
No impaired drivers were found among the 256 drivers that came through the checkpoint. That evening, Murfield said that was the goal.
“Our goal is actually zero and that means that everybody is complying. They’re either finding a safe ride home or they’re staying at home or wherever they are and they’re not driving,” he said.
“That’s what we want as a law enforcement agency,” Murfield said.
“We don’t seek to try to find OVIs. We just want to intervene before they cause that injury or that death by car,” he said.
Murfield said one driver was “diverted” for field sobriety testing, but was found not to be impaired. All drivers were greeted and handed a card explaining why the checkpoint was occurring before they continued.
One such checkpoint is conducted annually in Richland County by the patrol, working in cooperation with other local law enforcement agencies. Different locations are selected each year.
“We have statistics and stuff that we pull and look for different areas,” Murfield said. “We try to span out to different areas around the county where we see areas that have a higher concentration of OVI arrest and OVI crashes.”
OVI checkpoints are funded by federal grant funds.
OVI checkpoints OK’d by state, federal courts
The legality of OVI checkpoints in Ohio has been approved in both state and federal judicial decisions.
The U.S. Supreme Court, in the landmark case of Michigan v. Sitz (1990), determined the benefits of sobriety checkpoints in deterring drunk driving outweigh the minimal intrusion on individual privacy.
This ruling permits DUI checkpoints under the U.S. Constitution by balancing the state’s interest in preventing drunk driving against the level of intrusion on individual drivers who the police briefly stop.
In Ohio, the Supreme Court has also affirmed the legality of DUI checkpoints, stipulating certain conditions to ensure they comply with constitutional standards.
These conditions, as outlined by the Ohio State Highway Patrol in Policy Number OSP-200.21, include:
— The site of the checkpoint be selected by an official other than those who will conduct the checks.
— The law enforcement agency planning to conduct a checkpoint to demonstrate that there is a significant alcohol crash problem at the location chosen for the checkpoint. The site of the proposed checkpoint must have a significant history of alcohol-related crashes and impaired driving violations. The time and day of the checkpoint must parallel the peak periods of alcohol crash involvement.
— The site selection process must consider the safety of motorists and officers.
— The site must allow officers to divert vehicles out of the traffic stream without creating a hazard or traffic backup.
— The checkpoint commander will determine the random sequence of the stops and specify the method used to indicate which vehicles are to be stopped.
— The checking officers will greet the driver, screen him/her for the required articulated signs of impairment and either release the vehicle or have the vehicle diverted to the screening area.
— Should the initial observation of the driver give probable cause of a violation of 4511.19 ORC, the driver will be diverted to the screening area.
— The driver will be screened for alcohol impairment in the same manner as any OVI suspect.