NCJ Number
175823
Journal
Police: The Law Enforcement Magazine Volume: 22 Issue: 6 Dated: June 1998 Pages: 34-36
Date Published
1998
Length
3 pages
Annotation
An innovative and inexpensive technique that has proven successful in drug law enforcement on highways is the roadblock ruse, sometimes referred to as the "no roadblock roadblock."
Abstract
Operating a roadblock ruse is relatively easy and involves placing signs along the highway indicating a roadblock is ahead. The signs can read "Narcotics Officers Ahead" or "Stop Here to Deposit Illegal Drugs and Contraband." Law-abiding drivers will pass the signs and support the antidrug efforts of police. Drug dealers may toss their illegal goods or make a sudden U-turn, and littering is a violation for which they can be stopped. Several courts have upheld traffic stops when a driver avoids an actual roadblock and commits a minor traffic violation in the process. Pretext stops are lawful, and stops for traffic violations may lead to a sniff by a trained drug detector dog. The sniff of the exterior of a vehicle lawfully detained is not a search. Detaining a vehicle beyond the time necessary to issue a citation or a warning, however, requires reasonable suspicion of illegal activity beyond the traffic violation. The author concludes the roadblock ruse is an effective drug interdiction tool. 1 photograph