Georgia State Patrol Post of the Year

South Georgia State Patrol Unit Uses DUI Checkpoints to Help Earn GSP Post of the Year Award

By: William C. Head, Criminal Defense Attorney Atlanta GA and ABA Board-Certified DUI Attorney

The top State Trooper unit in Georgia was Post 31, which covers four South Georgia counties near Valdosta, GA.
Post 31 has been named “Post of the Year.” The award is given for the most aggressive enforcement of drunken driving, and the small unit managed to make 353 DUI arrests in the 4-county area: Lowndes County, Brooks County, Echols County, and Lanier County.

By using DUI checkpoints 111 times in one year, the small GSP unit arrested 327 people, including 56 people for driving under the influence. Patrol officers assigned to interdict drunk drivers made another 112 arrests in the four-county area of South GA.

The article boasted that “The post has a checkpoint tactic of splitting into teams and selecting multiple check sites. If one site is unproductive, a team moves to another selected site.” This method of terminating sobriety checkpoint locations also is utilized in metro Atlanta, since safety checks have been proven to be less effective in arresting impaired drivers than roving patrols, looking for equipment violations or a traffic offense, and a basis to pull over a vehicle and check the driver for driving while intoxicated.

Under Georgia DUI checkpoint law relating to establishment and operation of roadblocks, each roadblock location must be selected by a supervisory officer and must be manned by well-trained DUI enforcement officers to minimize delay and erroneous detention decisions. Many other detailed steps must be followed, for the DUI checkpoint to pass Constitutional scrutiny.

“Out of 1,705 crashes, 546 resulted in fatality or injuries. However, only 58 of those were alcohol-related. The troopers are working hard and are dedicated to seeing a significant decrease in fatal crashes. They firmly believe that targeting impaired drivers will have a positive impact on reducing fatal and injury crashes.”

Source: https://www.valdostadailytimes.com/news/local_news/gsp-post-recognized-for-dui-work/article_c1c62efc-3cd9-5878-9bb2-2de22e225e1c.html [May 9, 2016]

Rural areas like the part of Georgia served by Post 31 are more difficult to manage than highly-populated areas of Georgia like Atlanta, Columbus, Savannah, and Macon. Many Post 31 license checks and sobriety checkpoint locations will be found on summer weekends, leading from recreational areas that have many drivers who have been drinking and driving while engaged in boating, fishing, and water-skiing.

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