SPEAKING LEVEL UP (PBS) (3회/FEBRUARY, 2010) INSTRUCTOR KIM SOO-YEON
3. DUI Checkpoints Meet Rising Skepticism
POLICE OFFICER: 안녕하십니까. 음주운전 단속 중입니다. 오늘 밤 술 드셨나요?
LOWELL BERGMAN: 하지만 술을 마시지 않은 상태라도 일부 운전자들에게는 이 단속으로 곤란한 상황이 벌어질 수 있다.
POLICE OFFICER: 음주 운전 단속 중입니다. 운전 면허 좀 보여주시겠습니까? .
LOWELL BERGMAN: 이런 검문 현장에서 경찰이 노리는 것이 음주운전자들만은 아니다. 면허 없이 운전하는 사람들이 대상이다.
DAVID RAGLAND, professor, University of California, Berkeley: 무면허로 운전하는 것은 피해자없는 범죄라는 것이 일반적인 인식입니다. 하지만 사실은 그렇지 않죠…
3. DUI Checkpoints Meet Rising Skepticism
POLICE OFFICER: Good evening. This is a driver's license DUI checkpoint. Have you had anything to drink tonight, sir?
DRIVER: No.
LOWELL BERGMAN: But, even if you are sober, this checkpoint means trouble for some drivers.
POLICE OFFICER: This is a driver's license DUI checkpoint. Can I see your license?
LOWELL BERGMAN: Police don't just go after drunk drivers at these checkpoints. They are looking for people driving without a license.
DAVID RAGLAND, professor, University of California, Berkeley: It's a common perception that driving without a license is a victimless crime. And, in fact, it's not.
LOWELL BERGMAN: Professor David Ragland of the University of California, Berkeley, helps administer millions of dollars in federal funds for DUI checkpoints.
DAVID RAGLAND: In 20 percent of traffic fatalities, there's at least one unlicensed driver involved. And the risk of being in a hit-and-run crash is even higher. Therefore, it is extremely important that we find a way to get people without licenses off the road.
POLICE OFFICER: This is a ticket for driving without a license.
DRIVER: Oh, OK.
POLICE OFFICER: Can I have you sign at the bottom next to the circled X?
LOWELL BERGMAN: And, in California, if you don't have a license, most police don't just give you a citation. They do something no other state does.
POLICE OFFICER: All right. Well, because you don't have a license, we're towing the car. Can I have the key, please?
LOWELL BERGMAN: If you don't have a license, they tow your car and impound it for a month.
POLICE OFFICER: As it stands right now, it is a 30-day tow. Do you understand that?
DRIVER: Thirty days?
POLICE OFFICER: Thirty days. We're giving you the phone number.
LOWELL BERGMAN: If you are caught driving drunk, you can pick up your vehicle the next morning. But if are you caught driving without a license, you lose your car for at least 30 days.
Last year, 24,000 vehicles were impounded at California checkpoints because an unlicensed driver was caught at the wheel.
Professor Ragland says the 30-day impound makes sense.
DAVID RAGLAND: If someone is drive without a license, you want to keep their car long enough that they can't just get their car immediately and start driving again.
LOWELL BERGMAN: But there is a fundamental problem with this practice, according to Democratic State Senator Gilbert Cedillo.
GILBERT CEDILLO, D,California state senator: Impounding the vehicles of unlicensed motorists in California is illegal and unconstitutional.
LOWELL BERGMAN: What Senator Cedillo is referring to is this decision in 2005 by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. It concluded that it was -- quote -- "unreasonable seizure under the Fourth Amendment to impound a vehicle if the only justification is that the driver is unlicensed."
Martin Mayer is the lawyer for California's Police Chiefs and Sheriffs Associations.
MARTIN MAYER, attorney, California's Police Chiefs and Sheriffs Associations: What was pointed out by the Ninth Circuit was that, in the United States, you have to have a warrant to seize any personal property, with very few exceptions.
LOWELL BERGMAN: In this memo, Mayer told his clients that the ruling would -- quote -- "impact upon an officer's authority to have a vehicle towed if the only charge against the driver is driving without a license."
MARTIN MAYER: If they are doing that, and they can't justify it, it would be an unconstitutional seizure of personal property.
LOWELL BERGMAN: Since the court ruling, some law enforcement agencies, like the California Highway Patrol, have changed their policies. But most police departments continue to routinely impound cars.
In fact, the number of vehicles seized at California checkpoints has doubled in the five years since the decision. Senator Cedillo says the reason for this is simple: money.
GILBERT CEDILLO: It's all to raise revenue for these local governments. This is the simple reason why they are doing this, to raise revenue for their cash-strapped cities.
LOWELL BERGMAN: The revenue comes in two ways. First, $30 million in federal funds pays for police overtime and operating costs at checkpoints like these. And then the impounded vehicles provide a profit. After fines are paid to the city along with 30 days in storage fees, a vehicle typically produces $2,000 in revenue, sometimes more if it is not claimed and then auctioned.