State funding eliminated for sobriety checkpoints
JEFFERSON CITY — Missouri lawmakers effectively eliminated funding for sobriety checkpoints for the fiscal year that begins in July, a move by a core group of critical conservative Republicans that officials say could hinder or end the manpower-intensive practice in some areas of the state.
Missouri lawmakers in the past provided federal funding for both sobriety checkpoints and saturation patrols. Checkpoints involve blocking a street so that all drivers are funneled through a group of officers and are stopped. The saturation patrols involve positioning extra officers in pre-defined, unannounced areas to watch for signs of drunken driving before pulling over drivers.
The budget now on Republican Gov. Eric Greitens’ desk shifts all but $1 of the $20 million devoted to impaired driving detection to saturation patrols — a technical budgeting maneuver. Police will still be able to set up checkpoints, but they can’t pay for them using that funding.
Missouri Department of Transportation Highway Safety Director Bill Whitfield said without the money, some police agencies cancelled checkpoints planned for the summer, when he said more motorists are on the road because of vacations and drunken driving is more common.
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