ESCONDIDO CONTINUES CHECKPOINTS

DUI operations have controversial past in city; manager accepts funds

An Escondido City Council discussion about whether to accept a state traffic safety grant of $515,000 — some of which will be used to pay for the operation of DUI checkpoints — stirred up long-standing suspicions in the Latino community that checkpoints have historically been used to target undocumented immigrants.

Following the discussion, which took place at the council’s Sept. 16 meeting, the council deadlocked 2-2 on whether to authorize the police department to accept the grant, with Mayor Paul Mcnamara and Councilman Mike Morasco voting yes, and councilmembers Olga Diaz and Consuelo Martinez voting no.

While the council failed to approve acceptance of the grant, City Manager Jeffrey Epp later determined he had the authority to accept the funds on behalf of the city, and he did so, meaning the city will receive the full $515,000 grant from the state.

At the meeting, Diaz said the checkpoints have a “difficult past,” in part because the city often towed the cars of unlicensed drivers even when they were not under the influence of alcohol or drugs, a practice that was later prohibited by passage of a state law.

DUI checkpoints, she said, “still create some sense of distrust.” Diaz also contended that saturation patrols, in which five or six roving officers are assigned to target suspected drunken drivers, are more effective at catching DUI offenders.

But Morasco said police “have to use every tool that (they) have,” because Escondido has one of the highest rates of alcohol-related crashes in the state when compared with similar-sized cities.

“If it saves one life, it is worth it,” said Morasco.

Mcnamara, in an interview, said that in the past, there were some valid concerns about how the checkpoints were handled. For instance, he said, some were held in mid- to late-morning, when it was less likely that drunken drivers would be on the road.

But the city has new leadership now both on the council and in the police department (current Police Chief Ed Varso joined the department in January), and the checkpoints are conducted both fairly and effectively, he said.

“Clearly, there’s still some sensitivity to it,” Mcnamara said. “But from a practical point of view, we are in a new era now and (drunken driving) is still a problem and those funds will help us in resolving that problem.”

Epp said he had no qualms about accepting the money despite the deadlocked City Council. “You simply don’t turn away $515,000 of free money,” especially for the vital purpose of enhancing traffic safety, he said. The city’s finances are precarious; projections call for an $8 million budget shortfall next fiscal year.

“I felt it was my responsibility” to accept the grant, Epp said, as the council provided no specific direction due to the tie vote.

Epp, who officially retired from his post over the summer but is staying on temporarily while a new city manager is hired, acknowledged that “more than a decade ago, checkpoints were controversial in this city, there’s no doubt about that.”

“I can only speak for last several years; there’s no indication whatsoever that the checkpoints create any distrust or polarization of any part of the community. It’s all about traffic safety,” Epp said.

Martinez, who was elected to the council in 2018, said she voted against accepting the grant both last year and this year. One of her primary concerns, she said, is that she hasn’t received enough information and data in response to questions she has raised.

Among her questions, said Martinez, is why some cities such as Escondido have checkpoints and others do not. She also has been told by city staff that the state’s Office of Traffic Safety would withhold some of the grant funds if the city does not conduct a specified number of checkpoints each year, and she wanted to see that requirement in writing.

Martinez, like Diaz, is convinced that saturation patrols are more effective at catching drunken drivers than DUI checkpoints. And she’s concerned that the checkpoints seem to be concentrated in certain areas of the city, a contention Epp and Varso dispute.

Checkpoints do still raise concerns and mistrust in the community, and among her constituents, Martinez said.

“Definitely, it’s a concern for many Latinos in Escondido and I hear about it,” Martinez said. “Just because we have new leadership doesn’t mean (checkpoints) are not problematic. They are still happening and I want to know why they’re happening.”

Martinez said it was unprecedented for the city manager to accept the traffic safety grant without approval from the city council.

“I’m not happy about it,” she said. “We didn’t give direction for it to be accepted.”

The state grant will fund a number of traffic safety initiatives, including a full-time police officer dedicated to DUI education and enforcement, at a cost of $153,119 for salary and benefits; $103,860 for DUI saturation patrols; $73,320 for six DUI checkpoints; and funds for operations related to distracted drivers, pedestrian and bicycle safety and motorcycle safety, as well as related equipment and supplies, said a city staff report.

In an interview, Varso said more DUI arrests are made during saturation patrols than at checkpoints, but the checkpoints are part of a broader strategy to increase public awareness about the risks posed by drunken driving.

“They’re a highly visible reminder to the community that we do make arrests at DUI checkpoints, so they are an effective tool,” he said.

Varso said Escondido has a significant problem with DUI violators, and that is why he has made enforcement and education a priority. Each year, Escondido has about 1,000 car crashes involving deaths, injuries and hit-and-runs, and about 22 percent involve an alcohol-impaired driver, said Varso. Officers make about 500 DUI arrests each year in the city.

The most recent statistics from the state Office of Traffic Safety, based on data from 2017, put Escondido at fifth worst for overall traffic safety and third worst for alcohol-related fatal and injury collisions when compared to similar-sized cities, said the staff report.

A decade ago, the city conducted 20 or more checkpoints per year, said Varso, but over the past several years, the city has held five to seven checkpoints annually.

He said the checkpoints are spread out across the city, based on statistics about Dui-related collisions and arrests, and whether the physical layout of the roadway allows for safe operation of a checkpoint. A map provided by Varso showed 18 checkpoints were operated between February of 2017 and February of 2020, at locations including El Norte Parkway and Ash Street to the north, El Norte and Washington Avenue to the east, and Bear Valley Parkway and San Pasqual Road to the south.

If the city opted not to conduct DUI checkpoints, OTS would cut the grant by about half, and the money is needed, Varso said.

Neither the checkpoints, nor other police operations, target people due to their ethnicity, Varso said.

“We treat people with respect, we have to treat everyone fairly. We have no objective other than to keep them safe regardless of what their background is,” he said.