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Police Checkpoint Nabs Violators

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By GEORGE NEWMAN

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 4, 2008

PLANT CITY - A safety checkpoint set up by the Plant City Police Department last week was cut short by the threat of lightning, but not before dozens of vehicles were checked by officers.

Normally the local department works in conjunction with the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office when staging a safety checkpoint in the city. Scheduling conflicts disrupted the cooperative program but the operation went on as planned.

Plant City police Sgt. Dave Millich, a street crimes officer, was in charge of the checkpoint set up near the Plant City location of the county courthouse near Michigan Avenue and Baker Street. Another 18 officers and detectives assisted Millich in the May 23 effort.

During the hour and 45 minutes the checkpoint was in place police observed 160 vehicles, diverting 79 through the single lane checkpoint. Of those stops two arrests were made for no valid driver's license.

"We also wrote citations for an open container, improper seat belts on a minor child, and cautioned drivers with improper or malfunctioning safety equipment," Millich said. "Traffic was light. We were expecting a higher volume than we got."

By state law, police had to announce the checkpoint a week in advance and post signs the day of the operation. "Such warnings might deter some motorists from driving into the checkpoint area," Millich said. "But the ones who could do the most harm to the driving public around them are usually in no shape to recognize the warnings. They often drive right into it."

At about 11:40 p.m., 20 minutes before the scheduled closing, the checkpoint was shut down due to lightning strikes from thunderstorms passing to the north.

Before and after the checkpoint police made a total of three arrests in town for driving while intoxicated.

Law enforcement officers, including Plant City officers, occasionally set up safety checkpoints. This was the first one in Plant City since March 2007.

"It's all about driver safety," police Capt. John Borders said. "One life saved is success for us."

Reporter George H. Newman can be reached at (813) 865-4451 or gnewman@tampatrib.com.

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