FAKE CHECKPOINTS OK'D IN SNIFFING OUT CRIMINALS

George Epp doesn't expect widespread use of practice

DENVER - The head of the state sheriffs' organization said Friday he
didn't expect widespread use of fake drug checkpoints in Colorado
after the practice was upheld by an appeals court.

"When these things get used too much they lose their effectiveness,"
said George Epp, executive director of County Sheriffs of Colorado.

The Colorado Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that authorities can set
up fake checkpoints in hopes of sniffing out illegal drugs. It ruled
in a case where camouflage-clad officers spied on fans during the 2000
Telluride Bluegrass Festival.

The ruling, which reversed an earlier finding, was based on a federal
appeals court decision last year in a similar case in Oklahoma. In
that case, the court said in essence that fake checkpoints are legal
because they are not the real thing.

Police at the festival posted signs along the road saying, "Narcotics
checkpoint, one mile ahead" and "Narcotics canine ahead." Officers
wearing camouflage hid on a hill and watched for any people who turned
around or appeared to toss drugs out of their windows after seeing the
signs.

Stephen Roth, 60, was pulled over for littering and authorities found
he had tossed a marijuana pipe out the window. A search of his car
turned up two more marijuana pipes and hallucinogenic mushrooms.

The appeals court said that while drug checkpoints are illegal under
the Fourth Amendment - because motorists are stopped at random and
without reasonable suspicion of committing a crime - the discovery of
the first pipe gave the officers probable cause to stop Roth's vehicle.

Roth's attorney said he planned to appeal.

Dolores County Sheriff Jerry Martin said his department conducted four
fake checkpoint operations before suspending them because of the
lawsuit. The operation will probably be reinstated, he said.

"We didn't dream it would be that effective. I'm telling you, they
tossed stuff out of there that you couldn't believe," Martin said.

Epp, a retired Boulder County sheriff, said he thought the Dolores
County operation was unique.

"There was a gathering where it was known that drug use was fairly
widespread," he said. "What the court's saying is that it's sometimes
OK to take advantage of criminal stupidity."

In the Oklahoma case, Mack Flynn saw checkpoint warning signs in
Muskogee County, quickly got off the interstate and dropped a large
sack along the road. The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed
with his attorneys that checkpoints are illegal but ultimately ruled
against him because there really weren't any checkpoints.