“No refusal” means that a magistrate and nurse are readily available to sign and carry out a search warrant compelling a blood test from suspected drunk drivers.
If an individual is suspected of being impaired they are pulled out of the line of cars for a field sobriety test, sheriff’s Lt. Dustin White said. Depending on the outcome of that test officers can also administer a breathalyzer test or have a phlebotomist draw blood inside a mobile command center. Drivers always have the right to refuse any of those tests, but an on site prosecutor can seek a search warrant which will then be reviewed by a magistrate.
If the magistrate feels there is probable cause and signs the warrant, the test can be carried out on site.
“It doesn’t mean we’re not going to take breath tests,” OSHP Lt. Brian Aller said in advance of the checkpoint Friday. “We’re not going to take blood from every person we suspect to be impaired.” It’s simply an option that they are publicizing to alert the public and hopefully deter drunk driving.”
The option to get a search warrant for an individual’s blood is one that is always open to law enforcement, Aller said.
The state patrol obtained a search warrant to draw the blood of Lewis Chambers earlier this month, suspected of being under the influence of alcohol when his Ford Explorer slammed into the back of a Clark County family’s car, killing a 12-year-old girl and her 65-year-old grandfather on Dayton-Springfield Road.
This checkpoint is only different from normal enforcement because the magistrate and nurse will be at the scene in anticipation of a warrant being sought, Aller said.
Montgomery County’s OVI Task Force has conducted similar checkpoints periodically for the past several years and Clark County modeled their protocols on Dayton’s approach. They were scheduled to conduct a “no refusal” OVI checkpoint on Wayne Ave. in Dayton Friday evening as well.
During three no refusal checkpoints conducted in Dayton over the summer no one refused field sobriety or breath tests, said Montgomery County OVI Task Force Coordinator Carlene Maynes.
Out of 293 cars the task force checked on July 19 on N. Gettysburg Road in Dayton only two drivers were pulled aside for field sobriety tests. Neither was found to be impaired and there were no arrests. At a checkpoint in Centerville last month there was only one OVI arrest out of 888 drivers contacted. That individual submitted to a breathalyzer test willingly.
“Rarely does it ever get to that point that the judge has to sign the warrant to compel their blood sample,” Maynes said.
The announcement of Clark County's checkpoint gained national attention when a story about it was posted to libertarian radio host Alex Jones' website InfoWars.com.
That report featured video from an investigation by an Atlanta Fox affiliate which shows individuals being strapped and held down while nurses draw blood. The InfoWars story questions the constitutionality of these type of stops.
“It’s such an encroachment on our civil rights,” said John Jackson, who lives in Michigan but contacted the News-Sun after seeing the story online. “It’s so intrusive. What’s next?”
“We don’t just strap people down,” Aller said. He has never witnessed a situation where an individual actively resists a blood test once a warrant is signed.
“It wouldn’t be like what you see in the video there,” White said. Both said the only situation in which an individual would be actively restrained would be if they were being combative with officers.
There are numerous points at which individuals can avoid checkpoints or refuse tests, Aller said. Signs posted in advance of the checkpoint give drivers ample opportunity to turn and go around.
But once in contact with the checkpoint officers, if they feel there is probable cause they have the legal grounds to seek a search warrant.
“The hope tonight is that we don’t have anyone who is impaired,” Aller said Friday.
Maynes said all checkpoints typically result in few arrests because they are advertised ahead of time.
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