Morning Notes

by Karen Goff — June 1, 2016 at 9:00 am 4 Comments

Reston Company Purchased — Gathersburg-based BroadSoft Inc. has purchased Reston-based Intellinote as part of its ongoing quest to dominate the digital workplace productivity market. [Washington Business Journal]

Second Chance For Vets In Court — A look inside Fairfax County’s first Veterans Treatment Court program, where veterans accused of crimes can sometimes opt for serious therapy program. [Washington Post]

Art and Meditation — There is another chance to meditate at Greater Reston Arts Center on June 8. [Facebook]

Farewell After 40 Years — Helen Guest, teacher and director at St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church Preschool in Herndon, is retiring after 40 years with the school. [Fairfax Times]

Sobriety Checkpoint — Fairfax County Police conducted a sobriety checkpoint in the Reston District over the holiday weekend. It resulted in 539 cars screened, two arrests for DWI, and four other traffic violations.

Reston Watcher

Just knowing that the checkpoint happened, and that a certain number of
arrests were made, doesn’t allow us to judge whether checkpoints are an
effective use of county resources or whether this checkpoint was
successful. Context is needed.

It would help to know:

1. What was the total cost of the sobriety checkpoint operation?
2. How many officers were involved?
3. Where any officers involved paid on an overtime basis, and if so, how many and how much were they paid?
4. What other police activities did not take place because officers on their regular shifts participated in the checkpoint instead of doing their usual work? How many arrests, on average, usually occur during those activities?
5. How many total DWI arrests were made in the county and this precinct that night, and how many have been made on other nights? Knowing the average number made on other nights, by night of week, holiday vs. non-holiday, and overall, would be nice, but the raw numbers would be important, too.
6. How many DWI arrests, on average, does a single office make in a night?
7. When and where have other checkpoints been conducted in the past, and how many DWI arrests made at each?

Knowing these things would help put the checkpoint activity in context.

The police did not provide any measure of effectiveness in announcing the results of the checkpoint. The police certainly know how effective checkpoints actually are. Do they not tell us because they know that they’re not really very effective in getting drunk drivers off the road, compared to other methods? And if they don’t conduct checkpoints because they are more effective than other means, why do they?
Why do you bother?

These might be more effective if they weren’t announced ahead of time. Too bad we can’t measure how many drunk a$$holes just avoided FCP.
- RestonCitizen
  
  Checkpoints are announced ahead of time. Specifics about where in the area aren’t given, but FCPD does announce them.
  - Why do you bother?
    
    I know that I’ve heard reports on WTOP saying what streets the checkpoints will cover.

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