Posted on June 17, 2009

License Checkpoints a 'Low Priority,'
Richmond Council Decides

By Karl Fischer and Katherine Tam
West County Times

Citing unlicensed drivers officially became a "low priority" in Richmond on Tuesday night, or so the City Council voted after a heated exchange regarding the Police Department's program of driver's license checkpoints.

The resolution that passed on a 4-1 vote with two abstentions will not change police policy or the department's approach to a thorny conflict that pits the interests of roadway safety against those of working families, and the feelings of Richmond's longer-established ethnic groups against the suspicions of the city's large and swiftly growing Latino constituency.

The department's program of driver's license checkpoints became a flash point in Richmond politics last summer. Latino groups complained that the checkpoints disproportionately resulted in citations and impounded cars for Latino motorists, particularly undocumented immigrants, who cannot legally drive in California.

"Not only do I believe the checkpoints are a misuse of city funds, but they are also very discriminatory," Richmond resident Jessica Montiel told the council. "It targets a group of human beings who are not given the fair opportunity to get licenses and then asked to produce them."

The city does not grant driver's licenses, nor does it control state or federal immigration policies or laws governing rights of immigrants. The sole dissenter, Councilman Nat Bates, said the council overstepped its authority by attempting to tell the Police Department which of the state's laws to enforce.

Councilmen Tom Butt and Jim Rogers abstained. Butt agreed that the state discriminates against the undocumented, but didn't see how the resolution would help. Mayor Gayle McLaughlin and council members Ludmyrna Lopez, Jeff Ritterman and Maria Viramontes supported the resolution, calling the policy a compromise. [emphasis added]

"It's not a moratorium. It's not saying that a checkpoint cannot be done," Ritterman said. "It's stating there is a harm factor in the community. This is an attempt to recognize that and to limit that while at the same time giving the (police) chief the discretion he might need."

Picketers, bearing signs in Spanish warning motorists, now appear whenever the department holds a checkpoint. McLaughlin, who opposes the checkpoints, last year asked for data regarding those cited, and concluded that about 70 percent had Latino surnames. [emphasis added]

Police maintain that checkpoints help police manage a serious public safety concern. Those who drive illegally have greater incentive to flee the scene of crashes and may be disproportionately involved in hit-and-run crashes, they say.

The department held eight license checkpoints last year. It plans to hold six this year, police Chief Chris Magnus said — three targeting unlicensed drivers and three targeting drunken drivers.

Magnus said his traffic unit has adapted its practices to soften the blow of tickets and car impounds on families and working people. Police, for example, allow volunteers to drive home the cars of those cited at the checkpoints so they can avoid expensive impound fees.

"Frankly, I'm OK with that," Magnus said. "They're still getting cited, and they still need to pay for the ticket."

Repeat offenders typically do lose their cars to impound, he added.

Reach Karl Fischer at 510-262-2728 or kfischer@bayareanewsgroup.com.