Presidential Debate, Football and DUI Road Blocks

Tomorrow Oxford and Ole Miss play host to the first Presidential Debate of this election (if McCain decides to appear - after all the town and University have gone through to prepare I sure hope he does).  Last week we played host to Vanderbilt's football team.  These two events seemingly have nothing to do with each other.  But, if the actions of the Mississippi Highway Patrol last weekend are any indicator of future action, I'd recommend that this week's visitors stick to walking.

According to Paul Quinn of the Daily Mississippian, the Highway Patrol made more than 100 arrests.  Excerpts of his story follow:

The Lafayette County Detention Center had a record crowd Saturday night after the Mississippi Highway Patrol set up a road block on Highway 6.

Highway patrol Sgt. Leslie White said officers decided to set up a safety checkpoint on Hwy. 6 and were surprised at the number of arrests they made. An exact number could not be given Monday because White had not yet finished compiling the total numbers.

Detention center administrator Gerald Clemons said the jail was hectic on Saturday night, with at least 130 inmates arrested that day.

In all, over 100 people received DUIs last weekend, records show.  The records also indicate over 30 public intoxication arrests, and 25 other people were arrested for disorderly conduct, possession of a controlled substance or possession of paraphernalia.

Newswatch station manager Elizabeth Vowell said she drove by the roadblock around 1 a.m.

“From the amount of cars, I thought it was left over game-day parking.  It was the biggest road block I’ve seen,” Vowell said.

Over the weekend, 36 of the arrests were made by OPD [Oxford Police Department],  nine of which were DUIs and three were public intoxication.

On campus, UPD [University Police Department] wrote at least 14 public intoxication tickets over the weekend. According to UPD records, one student was taken to Baptist Memorial Hospital due to intoxication.

I won't vouch for the accuracy of the numbers reported by the DM.  I doubt that any numbers provided on Monday were completely accurate.  What I will vouch for is the large number of persons I personally saw sitting behind the Lafayette County Detention Center all day Sunday.  There were approximately 30 folks sitting there at 12:30 p.m., when I came out of church, and still 20 or so when I drove by around 4:30 p.m.  Sunday was a long day at the jail.

Finally, I'd again refer you to some relevant posts regarding alcohol consumption and penalties.  Specifically, posts detailing what police look for during field sobriety tests and whether to allow them to search your car.  I have previously gathered a number of these links in my post entitled Oxford, Ole Miss and Alcohol Consumption.  Here's to a safe and enjoyable debate weekend for all.
Posted by Kevin W Frye at 25 September 2008, 7:27 AM
Categories: MS DUI Law, MS Search and Seizure Law, MS Criminal Law News
 

What did you think of this article?




Trackbacks
Trackback specific URL for this post
  • No trackbacks exist for this post.
Comments
  • No comments exist for this post.
Leave a comment

Submitted comments are subject to moderation before being displayed.

 Enter the above security code (required)

 Name (required)

 Email (will not be published) (required)

 Website

Your comment is 0 characters limited to 3000 characters.