MANSFIELD — The Ohio State Highway Patrol will conduct an OVI checkpoint in Richland County on Saturday evening to deter and intercept impaired drivers.
The exact location of the federally funded checkpoint will be announced Saturday morning.
“Based on provisional data, there were 540 OVI-related fatal crashes in which 593 people were killed last year in Ohio,” said Lt. Jason Murfield, commander of the Mansfield Post.
“State troopers make on average 25,000 OVI arrests each year in an attempt to combat these dangerous drivers. OVI checkpoints are designed to not only deter impaired driving but to proactively remove these dangerous drivers from our roadways.”
The most recent OVI checkpoint in Richland County was in May. One man was arrested that night and cited for operating a vehicle while impaired during the checkpoint on Ashland Road.
The legality of sobriety checkpoints has been upheld at both the state and federal levels. In the landmark 1990 case Michigan v. Sitz, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the public safety benefits of checkpoints outweigh the minimal intrusion on individual privacy under the U.S. Constitution.
The Ohio Supreme Court has also affirmed the constitutionality of DUI checkpoints, provided law enforcement agencies follow specific guidelines. Under Ohio State Highway Patrol Policy OSP-200.21, those conditions require that:
- An official who is not involved in conducting the checkpoint selects the location.
- The chosen site has a documented history of alcohol-related crashes and impaired driving violations, scheduled during peak periods for alcohol involvement.
- The location ensures safety for both motorists and officers, allowing traffic to be diverted without creating hazards or congestion.
- The checkpoint commander establishes a random sequence for stopping vehicles in advance.
- Officers greet drivers and screen them for articulate signs of impairment before either releasing the vehicle or diverting it to a screening area.
- Drivers exhibiting probable cause for an OVI violation under section 4511.19 of the Ohio Revised Code are directed to the screening area for further investigation.
