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By Dimitri Vassilaros
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, September 10, 2002
The Safety Checkpoint Program in Mt. Lebanon last week proves we are being cowed into sheep.
Police use safety checkpoints to stop drivers - without probable cause - to check for proper seatbelt use. Drivers also can be pulled over for a thorough examination to determine if their licenses, inspection stickers and papers are in order. It is Orwellian.
The only thing more disheartening than the state Supreme Court legitimizing this violation of the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures is that the drivers herded to the nearby parking lot for the more in-depth investigation liked it.
The Mt. Lebanon Police Department safety checkpoint was on Cedar Boulevard, near the high school, from about 12:30 to 4 p.m. Thursday. Drivers heading toward Cochran Road saw signs reading "Police checkpoint ahead" and "Be prepared to stop."
Traffic crawled from time to time along the row of red cones funneling everyone to the checkpoint. Four of every five were subjected to a brief visual inspection. It took about five seconds. Every fifth one was told to pull into the lot. Laptop computers helped the officers process 147 drivers' names and license information.
The first 700 drove off with lovely parting gifts: water bottles.
Eleven of Mt. Lebanon's finest were involved in the operation. The police officers and their superiors were uniformly polite, friendly and professional. The people they shepherded into the lot were polite, friendly and docile.
The only exception was a grumpy man who was cited for something that was going to cost him some money. He did not feel like chatting with anyone carrying a reporter's notebook.
When the officers were not within earshot, I asked about 10 of the idling drivers their thoughts about being delayed. Everyone, whether young or old, male or female, professional or housewife, liked the safety checkpoint.
The message was the same during the nearly two hours I was there. They think pulling people over without probable cause is a good idea because it could help keep irresponsible drivers off the roads and, thereby, make them feel safer.
When did "safety" replace the cornerstone of "freedom" in our republic? Was there a seminal moment that caused this paradigm shift of our values?
America is the most powerful country in history. The good guys won the Cold War. We have the highest standard of living any nation has ever seen. And yet, it seems the safer and more affluent we become, the more fearful we grow. What is wrong with this picture?
Does anyone really care about freedom anymore? I don't think I've ever felt so out of touch with my fellow citizens. Do they crave security so much that they're willing to shred the Fourth Amendment one slice of freedom at a time?
What do my fellow citizens fear so much that reduces them to sheep searching for a protective shepherd?
America has experienced wars, droughts, floods, epidemics, depressions and earthquakes. The list is almost endless.
Generations of Americans overcame their fears instead of surrendering to them. They did not ask the government to put a shepherd's crook around their necks to guide them into a safe pen. However, our generation bleats for it incessantly.
Of the 838 vehicles through the checkpoint, 38 received seatbelt warnings and three received seatbelt citations. There were 14 citations issued for other violations.
Do you feel safer today?
Dimitri Vassilaros can be reached at dvassilaros@tribweb.com or (412) 380-5637.