http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/07/02/ohio-police-department-using-fake-drug-checkpoints/
"Am I being detained and Am I free to Go." Say nothing else, cops are there with the goal of charging you with a crime and they have no probable cause in searching you or your vehicle at these check points unless you give them permission. I have gone through countless DUI check points here in Ohio and not once have I submitted to their illegal requests, plus it is nice to see cops squirm when you don't play along.
Police in Cleveland suburb of Mayfield Heights recently posted large yellow signs along Interstate 271 that warned drivers that there was a drug checkpoint ahead, to be prepared to stop and that there was a drug-sniffing police dog in use.
There was no such checkpoint, just police officers waiting to see if any drivers would react suspiciously after seeing the signs.
Authorities say that four people were stopped, with some arrests and drugs seized. They declined to be more specific.
The Plain Dealer in Cleveland reports that some civil rights leaders and at least one person pulled over by police are questioning the tactic. "I don't think it accomplishes any public safety goals," said Terry Gilbert, a prominent Cleveland civil rights attorney. "I don't think it's good to mislead the population for any reason if you're a government agency."
Nick Worner, a spokesman for the Cleveland office of the American Civil Liberties Union, said his office will be looking further into the fake checkpoints to determine whether anyone's rights may be being violated. Dominic Vitantonio, a Mayfield Heights assistant prosecutor, said the fake checkpoints are legal and a legitimate effort in the war on drugs.
A 2000 U.S. Supreme Court ruling said actual drug checkpoints are not legal and that police can randomly stop cars for just two reasons: to prevent immigrants without legal permission to be in the U.S. and contraband from entering the country and to get drunk drivers off the road.
"Am I being detained and Am I free to Go." Say nothing else, cops are there with the goal of charging you with a crime and they have no probable cause in searching you or your vehicle at these check points unless you give them permission. I have gone through countless DUI check points here in Ohio and not once have I submitted to their illegal requests, plus it is nice to see cops squirm when you don't play along.