Cars pulled over for safety check Thursday

Motorists traveling on Highway 92 east of Washington were subject to a traffic stop Thursday evening. Law enforcement officers were positioned on the east edge of the city. From 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., the officers pulled over every fourth car that passed by. The officers checked features of the car to see if they were working properly and checked to see if drivers had the appropriate documents on them, such as a license and vehicle registration.

Several law enforcement agencies participated in the traffic stops, which in this case were referred to as ?safety checks.? The technical name for this program is the ?Special Traffic Enforcement Program,? or STEP. The agencies involved in this STEP were the Washington County Sheriff?s Department, the Washington Police Department, the Department of Natural Resources, the Iowa State Patrol and the Iowa Department of Transportation.

The officers would check a vehicle?s brake lights, turn signals, tires and other features. Washington County Sheriff Jerry Dunbar said the officers also checked to see if the driver had a license, an insurance card and an up-to-date license plate. If the driver was found to be in violation of any motor vehicle laws, he was given a ticket.

Dunbar said that officers normally need ?probable cause? of an infraction in order to pull a car over. However, he said that is not true for a ?safety check,? which is what Thursday?s traffic stop was. He said officers can legally pull over a vehicle for a safety check as long as the officers have posted signs on the road alerting motorists of the safety check.

Law enforcement must obtain a warrant to search a car. However, officers may search a vehicle if they have probable cause of an infraction.

Dunbar said, ?You can get probable cause if you can see something in the open. If you have that, you?re okay without a warrant because of it being a vehicle. You can?t do that at a residence.?

Dunbar said the sheriff?s department tries to do at least one safety check per year and sometimes does two in a year. He said the department always invites other agencies to participate because of the large number of personnel required for the safety check.

?With fewer people, we may only stop every sixth or eighth vehicle,? said Dunbar.

Dunbar said the officers were not necessarily attempting to slow down traffic east of Washington. He said the officers were not running a radar gun. He said the officers attempted to conduct the safety checks without interrupting the flow of traffic.