Immigrant rights activists Maria Zacarias and Theresa Dang were arrested on suspicion of resisting or delaying a police officer and on suspicion of being intoxicated in public, respectively, said Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna. They have been released, according to the OC Register.
Zacarias and Dang helped change checkpoints in Santa Ana when police agreed to allow unlicensed drivers 20 minutes to find someone with a license to whisk their car away from an expensive impound. The OC May Day Coalition said then that the previous policy unfairly targeted and profited off the undocumented community. The two went out to Friday night’s check point and offered to be on-spot drivers when the arrests happened, according to the OC Weekly.
My own research into the SAPD’s DUI checkpoints, a few years ago, revealed that they hardly ever caught any actual drunk drivers. They do however serve to hassle immigrants. Beyond that however there is a simple reason why the SAPD keeps running these ineffective checkpoints.
The DUI checkpoints are paid for by grants from the State of California. And the money is used to pay massive overtime to the cops who run the checkpoints. SAPD Chief Carlos Rojas no doubt makes sure that only his buddies get to work the checkpoints so they can rake in the overtime money.
I told State Senator Lou Correa and former Assemblyman Jose Solorio about the waste of time and money that are these checkpoints. But neither of them did anything to stop the money from rolling in from Sacramento.
What about our lame all-Latino City Council and our Latino City Manager? Not to mention the Latina City Attorney and the aforementioned Latino SAPD Police Chief? Why do they all keep supporting these ridiculous checkpoints?
If we want to stop drunk driving we need to park cops next to the bars in Downtown Santa Ana and watch them haul off the drunken hipsters on a nightly basis.
There are DUI checkpoints all over Orange County so your argument is flawed again. It sounds more like the editor is venting. These DUI checkpoint are deterrents and if one DUI driver is taken off the street there is one less tragedy.
I support saturation patrols as they actually work. Checkpoints don’t.
“My own research into the SAPD’s DUI checkpoints, a few years ago, revealed that they hardly ever caught any actual drunk drivers” Do you have any facts to back this up or are we supposed to just take your word for it?
http://newsantaana.com/2010/03/10/a-closer-look-at-the-santa-ana-police-departments-dui-checkpoints/
Wow so sad but true. They need to call it immigrants chk point. Para que se asen pendejos!!!
So what should the other DUI Checkpoints be called in other Orange County Cities. Para que se hacen tan inteligentes!
Irvine publishes their DUI checkpoint data too and they also hardly catch anyone. All the cops in every city like the overtime pay!
These are government grants for this specific purpose that all police departments can apply for. Change the government or send Obama a text.
Chief Rojas can reject the grants. He won’t.
People can act a bit more orderly, protesters can follow rules of engagement and the world could be perfect but it’s not. May the Lord continue to enlighten you with excellent articles and stories to write about. Good day sir!
I support our police. I don’t like these dumb checkpoints!
Come on Art. Really this is the best you can do? Art why don’t you and this “May Day coalition;” cute word for people who hate all rules and laws, go speak to the parents and family members of the three young ladies killed on Halloween.
The driver, twice convicted for driving while drunk, was clearly under the influence when murdering these three young ladies….LATINAS.
The checkpoints serve as an opportunity to arrest DUI drivers but more importantly bring awareness to the community.
You get it? When there are DUI check points the word gets out, DONT DRIVE DRUNK! I wonder if you or the May Day Coalition talked to parents of these murdered young ladies or helped them out???
Doubt it. TOO BUSY MAKING EVERYTHING A RACE ISSUE. You clearly don’t live in an area where drunk drivers crash into parked cars, pedestrians and every other thing that moves on a monthly basis.
You must live in Orange or Floral Park….some nice cute non-immigrant neighborhood you claim to support. Just like this fake May Day coalition; the majority live outside Santa Ana….what a joke!
But what do I know, I’m just an ignorant Latino that lives and grew up in this ghetto.
That driver had a long record and should have remained in jail.
The data shows that the checkpoints don’t work but I guess facts don’t matter to you.
Art, You said it perfectly for once “That driver had a long record and should have been in jail.” Was it the fault of the police, the DUI checkpoints, your preferred “saturation patrol” or the system. I would conserve my energy at the local level and take this fight up in Sacramento. Oflicers enforce the laws that are passed. SIMPLE. LIke the old Wendy’s commercial “Where’s the beef?” Answer…. Sacramento, California. Happy Holidays Muchachos!
I tried and Solorio and Correa dropped the ball.
Do you think that Janet Nguyen will really work to stop the DUI checkpoints? Or Tom Daly? Those are the legislators we are stuck with now. They are as lame as their predecessors on this issue.
We can get more traction by asking our City Council to pressure Chief Rojas to stop accepting these DUI checkpoint grants or use the money to fund DUI saturation patrols instead.
Nothing wrong with living in Floral Park. We like it here.