The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office has announced that another DUI Checkpoint will be conducted in Brandon, FL, near JC Handley Park at 3104 S. Kings Avenue and Bloomingdale Avenue. The Brandon DUI Checkpoint will start on July 25th at 10:00 p.m. and is required to end at 4:00 a.m. on July 26th.

The Breath Alcohol Testing vehicle (often called the mobile BAT unit) will be on site. Those individuals who are arrested during the checkpoint will be transported to the  Orient Road Jail. Transport will be provided at the scene.  It is expected that other agencies will assist in this DUI Checkpoint in Brandon including the Florida Highway Patrol, Tampa Police Department, and the Temple Terrace Police Department.

If you are going to be in that area of Brandon on Thursday night expect to be delayed. If you were delayed at the roadblock please feel free to leave a comment and tell us what you observed. If you were arrested at the roadblock then please call us to discuss your case.

Roadblock cases are some of the most scrutinized types of stops under the Fourth Amendment. Many states have banned the use of checkpoints under their state constitutions. Florida law does not prevent a DUI checkpoint if certain very strict requirements are followed.

For the DUI checkpoint to be deemed constitutional, the officers involved in the roadblock must follow an operational plan exactly. The DUI Checkpoint operational plan tells the officers when the roadblock will start and end and the procedures for stopping vehicles (such as stopping only every third vehicle). The officers must put up certain signage and safety equipment such as cones to safely direct traffic through the checkpoint. The officers should take pictures or video the set up of the roadblock in most cases. The officers should keep a careful log of which officers worked the roadblock and that those officers received and promised to follow the operational plan.

If the roadblock or checkpoint does not pass constitutional muster then all evidence gathered in the stop should be suppressed. Checkpoints are ineffective at stopping or preventing drunk driving. Checkpoints inconvenience innocent citizens. It takes dozens of officers to man the checkpoint. In most of these roadblocks only a few people are arrested for DUI. Even for those people arrested at the DUI Checkpoint the cases are often contested in court.

The media was on scene to video the hundreds of people given traffic infractions at the last checkpoint in Brandon, FL. Only one person was arrested for have a suspended driver’s license while HTO. Click here watch the video: DUI checkpoint in Brandon.