Wildlife Checkpoints – Why Advertise Ahead of Time

May 15, 2014

Question: I noticed CDFW put a news release out earlier in the week announcing an upcoming wildlife checkpoint. Why would you give poachers a heads-up so they can take another route? I’ve always wondered the same thing about DUI checkpoints. What’s the reason? (Anonymous)

Answer: Law enforcement agencies advertise checkpoints as a way of giving fair notice to the general public. This has been the case since a 1990 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in a case out of Michigan, in which the court ruled that such checkpoints were constitutional. In doing so, they implicitly acknowledged that certain guidelines (such as publicizing the checkpoints ahead of time) were necessary. One thing to note is that while advertising these checkpoints may seem counter-productive to catching poachers, the goal of these checkpoints is actually not to trap violators but instead to educate people as they pass through.