A random checkpoint is a military and police tactic. In a military context, checkpoints involve the setup of a hasty roadblock by mobile truck- or armored vehicle-mounted infantry to disrupt unauthorized or unwanted movement or military activity and to check for valid identification and search for contraband, fugitives, or weapons that are not permitted in civilian hands. Random checkpoints are set up to achieve surprise, as opposed to known permanently located checkpoints, which suspects could avoid. They are often established in locations where they cannot be observed by approaching traffic until it is too late to withdraw and escape unnoticed.UN Checkpoint operations
Patrol car-equipped police units regularly use random checkpoints to detect drivers who are suspected of impaired driving. Police also use hastily set up roadblocks to check cars and car trunks when they are pursuing an armed and dangerous fugitive. As with military checkpoints, sobriety checkpoints and fugitive roadblock searches are located in an area where drivers cannot see the checkpoint until it is too late to withdraw, and checkpoints are only set up on a temporary basis.
Military use
The unit establishing a military checkpoint must carry or obtain the materials necessary to construct it. It might use a large vehicle, or multiple vehicles, such as armored personnel carriers to block the road. In addition to blocking the road with vehicles, the road may also be partially blocked with concertina wire or heavy objects, such as sandbags or concrete blocks. The vehicles might be positioned to partially or entirely block the road or route. The search area might be the space between multiple vehicles. Sentries might be positioned at each end of the checkpoint and are covered by mounted or dismounted machine gun positions. A reaction force may be designated and concealed nearby.
Vehicular and pedestrian traffic that approach with the intent of passing flying checkpoints can be asked to produce identification and submit to a search of their persons or vehicle. The trunks of cars are typically searched. In some countries, soldiers inspect the bottom of the car with a mirror to look for bombs. In some cases, people without proper identification or who arouse suspicion may be refused passage, detained, or arrested. Contraband may be confiscated. A random checkpoint must be functional within 15 minutes of the unit's arrival on-site, and establish security teams 50–100 meters on both sides of the area to be controlled. Advanced observation posts may also be positioned further out if desired.Guide to Military Operations Other Than War: Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures for Stability & Support Operations, Keith Earle Bonn, Anthony E. Baker, pp.113–115 When large geographical areas need to be monitored, some types of checkpoint may be quickly airlifted by helicopter from one location to another.Afghan Allies Hunt Assassins CNN, July 8, 2002
Flying roadblocks and checkpoints are usually established for no more than a few hours, in order to decrease the possibility of insurgent attacks on them, as well as to maintain their effectiveness as a surprising, unexpected obstacle.
Random checkpoints are a common tactic used by many military forces, and have been recently used by UN forces in Kosovo, the Israeli army in the West Bank and US forces in Iraqi Kurdistan, and Iraq in search of insurgents, fugitives, and other law breakers. In some war zones, soldiers working at these checkpoints can be severely injured or killed if one of the vehicles they are searching contains a suicide bomber who detonates his or her bomb or if one of the occupants fires upon soldiers.
Random security checkpoints
India In India, checkpoints or more popularly known as checkposts are used to check and control the movement of people, vehicles, contraband and goods. These checkposts are put up by military, police, forest or transport departments, mines and sometimes by an agriculture department. The checkposts are usually set up beside roads and highways and sometimes in remote areas or forest. The checkpost may be permanent or temporary depending on circumstances and other reasons. The structure of these checkposts may be composed of tents or thatched roofs or RCC slabs. Many times, temporary checkposts are put during elections, fairs and festivals.
Sobriety checkpoints
Sobriety checkpoints or roadblocks involve law enforcement officials stopping every vehicle (or more typically, every nth vehicle) on a public roadway and investigating the possibility that the driver might be too impaired to drive due to alcohol or drug consumption. They are often set up late at night or in the very early morning hours and on weekends, and on holidays associated with parties (e.g., New Year's Eve) at which time the proportion of impaired drivers tends to be the highest. Checkpoints are also often set near the exit points of public events where people have been drinking to prevent large numbers of drunk drivers from being released into traffic simultaneously from the event. A roadblock stop is quick action spot for police as well as security personnel.
With a portable and quick breathalyzer test, the police can test all drivers (if the law permits) for their breath alcohol content (BrAC), and process the cars one by one as if in a conveyor belt. If a police force does not have these testing devices, a more complicated routine is necessary. Upon suspicion that the driver has consumed alcohol, due to the officer noting the smell of alcohol, slurred speech, or other signs, the stopped driver is required to exit the vehicle and asked to take a series of roadside field sobriety tests. These tests help the officer to determine whether the person's physical and/or mental skills are impaired. If the officer determines based on his/her observations during the tests that the driver is impaired and has probable cause to arrest the person for suspicion of driving under the influence, the arrestee will be asked to take an alcohol breath test or a blood test. The driver cannot "pass" or "fail" a field sobriety test as they are not "pass-or-fail", they are only meant to aid the officer in determining if a suspect is impaired based on observations of the subject's performance on these tests. There are various guidelines outlined by jurisdictional and international law for sobriety checkpoints; for example, in the U.S., field sobriety tests are voluntary.Law Talk: Should drivers refuse road-side drunk tests?, Michigan Live
In the United States, while the Fourth Amendment (1791) protects people against unreasonable searches and seizures of either self or property by government officials, the use of sobriety checkpoints by police is not prohibited by the Fourth Amendment. Some states such as Washington state have determined that sobriety checkpoints are unconstitutional under state law. Law enforcement often posts or announces in advance that these checkpoints will occur and at what location. Law enforcement agencies often post a sign during the weekdays when it is seen only by local residents and not by those attending a special event or those that only travel in that area of the city during the weekend to patronize local bars and clubs. These announcements are also sometimes printed in newspapers. Numerous websites host a database of checkpoints that are to occur based on information found in newspapers, the Internet and tips from visitors of such sites. In the 2010s, there are smartphone apps that allow users to report sobriety checkpoints, show them on a map and use the device's GPS to alert other drivers when a sobriety checkpoint is nearby.
Sobriety checkpoints regularly catch much more than just drunk drivers, as those selected to participate in the checkpoint are asked to provide their driver's licenses. As part of the standard protocol, the person's name and identifying information is run through the National Crime Information Center database, or NCIC, for wants and warrants. If the driver has an outstanding warrant, they will likely be arrested. If they were driving without a valid license, they will likely be cited for driving with a suspended or revoked license. The identity checks could also catch vehicle inspection and registration violations as well. When an individual is stopped for a sobriety check, the officer may also determine that they have probable cause to search the vehicle, which may lead to the officer finding illegal drugs or weapons.
Australia
In Australia, drivers may be stopped at any point along any public road by a police officer for what police term a "random breath test", commonly referred to as an "RBT".NSW Centre for road safety NSW.gov.au For an operation involving a large number of police (typically 10–20) at a fixed location, the colloquial term "booze bus" is often used.
In July 1976, legislation allowing Random Breath Testing (RBT) came into force in the State of Victoria, with this being the first State in Australia to introduce such. New South Wales began its own large RBT road safety campaign in 1982. Since then, fatal crashes involving alcohol have dropped from about 40 per cent of all fatalities to the 2012 level of 15 per cent. Police conduct about 5 million breath tests each year in NSW with every police car in the State able to conduct mobile RBT.
In all states, the maximum blood alcohol content of 0.05% is enforced.Australian Federal Police AFP.gov.au Drivers who are found to have a preliminary reading of equal to or greater than 0.05% are usually arrested and taken to the police station or RBT/"booze bus" to undertake a breath analysis. The machine used to perform a breath analysis is more sophisticated than the portable device that is used to administer a roadside RBT with the results of a breath analysis being used as evidence in court to prove a drunk driving charge.
In all states and territoriesBaldock, M. R. J.; Woolley, J. E. "Reviews of the effectiveness of random drug testing in Australia: The absence of crash-based evaluations " Centre for Automotive Safety Research, University of Adelaide. Proceedings of the 2013 Australasian Road Safety Research, Policing & Education Conference 28th – 30th August, Brisbane, Queensland the concept has been extended to make sobriety checkpoints also use "Random Drug Test (RDT) buses" (or "dual buses"), capable of testing drivers for a number of illicit drugs including cannabis (tetrahydrocannabinol), methamphetamine, and ecstasy (MDMA).Webster, Natalie. "Victoria Police - Full dual bus contingent launched". Media release, 7 December 2007. Retrieved 30 December 2017
RBT activities even feature on a popular Australian reality television series known by the same name, RBT (TV series).
As of late 2017 the NSW Police Force has announced it is going to expand its mobile drug testing to include cocaine in 2018. Trials of the program will be in Sydney's eastern suburbs. Drunk driving continues to be one of the main causes of road fatalities and injuries, responsible for 30 percent of road fatalities across Australia.
Canada In Ontario, Canada, sobriety checkpoints are referred to as Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere, commonly referred to as RIDE. In Alberta and Manitoba they are referred to as Check Stop, and in British Columbia, they are known as Drinking Driving Counterattack.
China On February 6, 2025, a Boxing County Public Security Bureau traffic police officer when he was rammed by a vehicle attempting to escape a sobriety checkpoint.
United States
Legality