DPS backs off S. Texas roadblocks after lame justifications debunked

Following up on a story highlighted on Grits last week, Jeremy Schwartz has a piece in the Austin Statesman today on the Texas Department of Public Safety's decision to install roadblocks in South Texas, a tactic Grits labeled "pure pretext stops." Titled, "Border area checkpoints raise question of intent," Schwartz's article says, "The tactic came as a surprise to many. State troopers hadn’t conducted such checkpoints since at least 1994, when a Texas court effectively prohibited most law enforcement roadblocks in the state."

Jeremy's report cast further doubt on the stated reasons for the tactics, debunking the notion (see the chart at right) that high numbers of vehicle crashes justified them:

In a release announcing the operation, DPS officials said the unusual measure was necessary in the Rio Grande Valley, in particular, because of “unsafe driving behaviors” and the “number of vehicle crashes” in the region. The agency set up numerous roadblocks in late September and early October as part of a wider law enforcement surge in the Rio Grande Valley.

But an American-Statesman analysis of Texas Department of Transportation data shows that the counties singled out by DPS — including Hidalgo and Cameron — have low crash rates compared with several other population centers in the state. Based on crashes per vehicle mile traveled, a statistic commonly used to calculate safety rates, the Rio Grande Valley trails far behind cities like Lubbock, Laredo, Houston and Midland, and has crash rates comparable to Central Texas and the Dallas area.

DPS has also tried to claim the roadblocks were necessary because of high rates of uninsured drivers in the area, but "according to the Texas Department of Insurance, Dallas, San Antonio and Houston all have significantly higher numbers of uninsured drivers than Hidalgo and Cameron counties," the Statesman reported.

Caught in this web of dubious excuses, "On Saturday, the San Antonio Express-News reported that DPS has stopped using the checkpoints and discontinued a broader enforcement push in the Valley." That's good news. It was a foolhardy and politically tone deaf move to ever launch them in the first place.

Following up on a story highlighted on Grits last week, Jeremy Schwartz has a piece in the Austin Statesman today on the Texas Department of Public Safety's decision to install roadblocks in South Texas, a tactic Grits labeled "pure pretext stops." Titled, "Border area checkpoints raise question of intent," Schwartz's article says, "The tactic came as a surprise to many. State troopers hadn’t conducted such checkpoints since at least 1994, when a Texas court effectively prohibited most law enforcement roadblocks in the state."

Jeremy's report cast further doubt on the stated reasons for the tactics, debunking the notion (see the chart at right) that high numbers of vehicle crashes justified them:

In a release announcing the operation, DPS officials said the unusual measure was necessary in the Rio Grande Valley, in particular, because of “unsafe driving behaviors” and the “number of vehicle crashes” in the region. The agency set up numerous roadblocks in late September and early October as part of a wider law enforcement surge in the Rio Grande Valley.

But an American-Statesman analysis of Texas Department of Transportation data shows that the counties singled out by DPS — including Hidalgo and Cameron — have low crash rates compared with several other population centers in the state. Based on crashes per vehicle mile traveled, a statistic commonly used to calculate safety rates, the Rio Grande Valley trails far behind cities like Lubbock, Laredo, Houston and Midland, and has crash rates comparable to Central Texas and the Dallas area.

DPS has also tried to claim the roadblocks were necessary because of high rates of uninsured drivers in the area, but "according to the Texas Department of Insurance, Dallas, San Antonio and Houston all have significantly higher numbers of uninsured drivers than Hidalgo and Cameron counties," the Statesman reported.

Caught in this web of dubious excuses, "On Saturday, the San Antonio Express-News reported that DPS has stopped using the checkpoints and discontinued a broader enforcement push in the Valley." That's good news. It was a foolhardy and politically tone deaf move to ever launch them in the first place.