DWI checkpoint upsets North Carolina community
Heading toward the Fourth of July, North Carolina law enforcement agencies continue to set up checkpoints across the state. Greenville DWI defense attorneys know local agencies often set up checkpoints to check drivers in the state for impairment. Saturday, agents from the North Carolina Wildlife Resource Commission sought to enforce laws along the Intercoastal near Wrightsville Beach.
At the same time, several law enforcement agencies set up a DWI checkpoint operation to stop drivers crossing the drawbridge leading to the island. Previously, the Wrightsville Beach Mayor and the Board of Alderman voted against setting up the DWI checkpoint on the island side of the bridge. Now some people in the coastal North Carolina community are upset over the DWI checkpoint operation that was conducted Saturday.
The checkpoint was set up on Saturday, when traffic levels at the oceanfront community are high. Wrightsville Beach Mayor David Cignotti says the island “is not the place for a roadblock of this type in the middle of summer on a Saturday.”
The Mayor says he hopes law enforcement does not hold a similar operation again. However, Corporal Jerry Brewer with New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office says the office will definitely look at Saturday’s operation “and see how we can learn from it and do better in the future.” The New Hanover County Sheriff’s Department led the DWI checkpoint effort.
The Mayor says the damage caused by the massive traffic jam that resulted Saturday outweighs the good. The operation was called off early. Cars lined up for the checkpoint causing a major traffic jam. Authorities say no arrests were made during the two hour period the operation remained up and running. However, Cpl. Brewer says roughly two North Carolina drug charges resulted from the operation.
Source: WECT “Checkpoint problems in Wrightsville Beach,” Craig Reck 28 Jun 2011
Tags: Carolina, Checkpoint, community, North, upsets