Despite Accusations, APD Says 5,000 Traffic Checkpoints Legal

By Jim Burress

Atlanta, GA – Recently, Atlanta's new Police Chief has come under fire for the department's use of roadblocks. Some say employing them as a general crime fighting tool is illegal. But APD says officers are within the law. WABE's Jim Burress reports.

After leaving "Screen on the Green" in Piedmont Park earlier this summer, Charlie Stadtlander ran into what he calls a police roadblock. "Tons and tons of police cars, there were more than just police cars they had utility vehicles," recalled Stadtlander. "It looked like a military blockade to me."

Stadtlander says an officer stopped his car and asked him for ID.

"Well at first they didn't tell me what they were doing. I asked, Why am I being stopped?'" And he informed me they were conducting a safety check to make sure everyone was following the rules they were supposed to follow," he said.

That blanket stop was one of eight APD has conducted at the intersection of 10th & Piedmont since May 14th, according to the department. This year, officers have organized more than 5,000 such checks across the city. But statements Chief George Turner made last week have led some to question how many of those were legal.

"When you look at where we place road blocks, and the crime patterns in our community, you'll see roadblocks in that area," Turner said last Thursday. He made the remark at a forum held to address the department's sometimes strained relationship with Atlanta's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities. His answer came in response to a question posed by attorney Dan Grossman about how APD uses roadblocks.

Turner : "So it's a strategy, one of the many strategies that we use to fight crime in the community.

Grossman "To fight crime in general, including robberies, thefts ?"

Turner: "Robberies, yes, to fight crime throughout the entire community."

Grossman: "Would that include drugs as well?"

Turner: "Sure."

Grossman challenged the chief on the legality of using roadblocks to prevent crime. Grossman is also the attorney for 60+ patrons who claim APD violated their constitutional rights during a September raid on a Midtown gay bar.

So does APD's use of roadblocks go beyond what's legal?

"The Supreme Court has specifically held that it's unconstitutional to establish roadblocks for general crime prevention," said Atlanta criminal defense attorney and WABE legal analyst Page Page.

And APD agrees broad-scope roadblocks are unconstitutional, says department spokesman Carlos Campos. While Chief Turner was unavailable for a follow-up interview to clarify his statements, Campos said Turner used the term "roadblocks" when he actually was talking about "checkpoints."

"To the layperson, they're just known as roadblocks," Campos said. "So police use that terminology as well. But, technically, most of what we do are actually checkpoints."

It's a distinction with a difference, according to Campos. Police use roadblocks to find and arrest a specific suspect for a specific crime - like a shooting that just happened. Checkpoints, Campos said, ensure traffic safety. And if an offshoot is a reduction in crime, all the better. "If you want to increase police visibility in big numbers, a legally-conducted traffic safety checkpoint is a good way of doing that," he said.

Nearly half of APD's checkpoints this year have been in Midtown, Downtown and parts of west Atlanta. Fewer than 10% were within the city's north side.

Campos said while APD uses crime statistics in deciding where to set up checkpoints, he's unsure whether DUIs or traffic infractions also play into the decision.
He also said the department does not have data on how many arrests APD has made because of checkpoints.

Jim Burress, WABE News.