82Marine89
05-16-2010, 04:34 PM
Go to the link and watch the video as well...
Adrianna Castellon, 16, stood on the sidewalk of a busy Moreno Valley street on a recent school night, yelling at cars rushing past.
"Checkpoint! Checkpoint ahead!" she screamed. "Turn back while you can!"
The high school student was among protesters hoping to help illegal immigrants whose vehicles were about to be impounded by police because they were driving without a license. California law got tougher in 1993, requiring a social security card and other identification to get a license and barring most illegal immigrants from applying.
Now the stricter license requirements and a rising number of checkpoints across the Inland area and state are stirring controversy that has reached a fever pitch in some cities with a large Latino population.
Critics say most Inland checkpoints economically punish illegal immigrants whose cars often are impounded for 30 days -- the maximum time allowed -- and can ill afford the approximately $2,000 to retrieve the vehicle. Protesters point out that drunken drivers usually lose their car for only one day. They say racial profiling is at play where checkpoints are placed.
Inland authorities said softer penalties, such as citations, for unlicensed drivers don't work because many illegal immigrants lack identification and can't be found if they skip court. Police say impounding cars is needed to deal with drivers without licenses, who account for about 40 percent of the nation's hit-and-run crashes based on statistics of hit-and-run drivers who were caught. And police say that traffic volume, not a neighborhood's racial composition, determines checkpoint locations.
"Usually people only see the fact that we're creating a monster for them and we're taking their car and taking their livelihood," said Perris police Sgt. Dan Lingo, who supervises the city's checkpoints. "The other side of it is they're breaking California law and they become a risk to the public."
http://www.pe.com/imagesdaily/2010/05-16/5783041_checkpoint16wlaa_400.jpg
Under community pressure, a few cities have dropped month-long car confiscation for a first-time unlicensed driving offense and instead hand out citations or do a one-day tow.
The California Office of Traffic Safety is calling 2010 the "year of the checkpoint" and plans a record $8 million in checkpoint grants, up from $5 million in 2009.
Some Inland residents think police can't hold enough checkpoints, which usually run from 6 p.m. to past midnight with little notice and without an announced location.
Lee Chauser, pulled aside recently at a Perris checkpoint, said an unlicensed driver once hit him.
"He almost killed me ... He rear-ended me going 35 mph," the 64-year-old Hemet man said. "The government needs to find a way for the (illegal immigrants) to get trained and drive legally."
http://www.pe.com/imagesdaily/2010/05-16/5783045_checkpoint16wlc_400.jpg
Click here to read the rest... (http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_D_checkpoint16.9c40e86.html)
Adrianna Castellon, 16, stood on the sidewalk of a busy Moreno Valley street on a recent school night, yelling at cars rushing past.
"Checkpoint! Checkpoint ahead!" she screamed. "Turn back while you can!"
The high school student was among protesters hoping to help illegal immigrants whose vehicles were about to be impounded by police because they were driving without a license. California law got tougher in 1993, requiring a social security card and other identification to get a license and barring most illegal immigrants from applying.
Now the stricter license requirements and a rising number of checkpoints across the Inland area and state are stirring controversy that has reached a fever pitch in some cities with a large Latino population.
Critics say most Inland checkpoints economically punish illegal immigrants whose cars often are impounded for 30 days -- the maximum time allowed -- and can ill afford the approximately $2,000 to retrieve the vehicle. Protesters point out that drunken drivers usually lose their car for only one day. They say racial profiling is at play where checkpoints are placed.
Inland authorities said softer penalties, such as citations, for unlicensed drivers don't work because many illegal immigrants lack identification and can't be found if they skip court. Police say impounding cars is needed to deal with drivers without licenses, who account for about 40 percent of the nation's hit-and-run crashes based on statistics of hit-and-run drivers who were caught. And police say that traffic volume, not a neighborhood's racial composition, determines checkpoint locations.
"Usually people only see the fact that we're creating a monster for them and we're taking their car and taking their livelihood," said Perris police Sgt. Dan Lingo, who supervises the city's checkpoints. "The other side of it is they're breaking California law and they become a risk to the public."
http://www.pe.com/imagesdaily/2010/05-16/5783041_checkpoint16wlaa_400.jpg
Under community pressure, a few cities have dropped month-long car confiscation for a first-time unlicensed driving offense and instead hand out citations or do a one-day tow.
The California Office of Traffic Safety is calling 2010 the "year of the checkpoint" and plans a record $8 million in checkpoint grants, up from $5 million in 2009.
Some Inland residents think police can't hold enough checkpoints, which usually run from 6 p.m. to past midnight with little notice and without an announced location.
Lee Chauser, pulled aside recently at a Perris checkpoint, said an unlicensed driver once hit him.
"He almost killed me ... He rear-ended me going 35 mph," the 64-year-old Hemet man said. "The government needs to find a way for the (illegal immigrants) to get trained and drive legally."
http://www.pe.com/imagesdaily/2010/05-16/5783045_checkpoint16wlc_400.jpg
Click here to read the rest... (http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_D_checkpoint16.9c40e86.html)