Village Board Gridlocks on Seat Belt Enforcement, Privacy Concerns

Is it an invasion of privacy to stop drivers who have committed no wrong for seat belt inspections?

The split on the issue at its annual budget workshop March 3 and maintained their deadlock positions through the board's most recent meeting on March 22. Mayor William F. Murphy was the deciding vote in favor of seat belt enforcment. 

Subscribe

Trustee David Pittinger took up what he called his “pro-liberty stance” at the budget workshop when Chief Ken Boehm introduced the department’s new traffic unit, which will devote two officers for duties such as seat belt enforcement during rush hour. Boehm plans to launch the unit this summer.

"I think seat belt enforcement is a gross violation of people's personal privacy," Pittinger said during the March 3 budget workshop. "The point of policing is to protect people from others, not to protect people from themselves." 

Pittinger argued it is a personal decision whether to wear a seat belt or not. Not doing so does not harm anyone else and is not a violation that justifies police looking into cars, he said. 

Trustees Greg Abbott and Joseph Kagann sided with Pittinger. Trustees Anne Banks, Pamela Beavers and Gina Cunningham-Picek sided with Murphy.

Pittinger continued the argument at the board’s March 22 meeting but again met Murphy’s disapproval.

“We’re essentially holding people against their will," Pittinger said. "We're holding them on the road when they’ve done nothing wrong. We’re supposed to be a free country, not a police state. The approach of that is wrong.“

Pittinger urged the village board to “support a pro-liberty stance” and develop policy "where we decide not to look into people's cars."

Murphy told Pittinger that there were three trustees against the enforcement and two trustees and one mayor in favor of it following the March 3 workshop. One trustee who was absent from the budget workshop later “joined in the view of those individuals who wanted to proceed with the (traffic unit) program as outlined in the budget).”

“Unless anyone has a change of view, we would proceed,” Murphy said. Hearing none, discussion on the topic promptly ended.

Public interest in whether an enforcement roadblock is an invasion of privacy has “ebbed and flowed,” said Ed Yohnka, director of communication and public policy for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois. Typically, the concern comes from the public, he said, and not elected officials.

Yohnka is not sure whether Pittinger's stance against seat belt enforcement would be upheld in court. He cited cases that upheld roadside checkpoints for driving under the influence. But it was a “great public discussion” for Pittinger and others to raise, he said.

“These checkpoints give people cause for great concern,” Yohnka said. “People are troubled to be called or stopped or made to feel as though they were criminals simply for being out on a Saturday evening.”

These checkpoints lead to “suspicion-less searches” when drivers are doing “nothing more nefarious than traveling around on their own community streets,” he said.

“That raises a number of significant questions about whether or not we ought to be stopped for being in a particular place at a particular time absent of showing any kind of criminal behavior,” Yohnka said.

currently apply for grants for traffic enforcement for certain holidays, such as St. Patrick’s Day. To be awarded for grants for traffic enforcement such as child safety seats, driving under the influence and seat belts, conducting roadside checkpoints specifically on Memorial Day and Thanksgiving is required, Woodridge Police Chief Ken Boehm said at the March 3 budget workshop.

Officers look at a wide spectrum of violations during the seat belt checks, including expired licenses, warrants and vehicle violations, Boehm said. These checks include making sure child safety seats are used correctly.

Seat belt checks are important because seat belts reduce injuries in accidents, Boehm said. 

"These laws are on the books for a reason," Boehm said. "We want people to be safe when people are driving through our community, and seat belts are a part of that."

Pittinger countered that he believes the methodology for collecting statistics on whether seat belts save lives is flawed. 

The village board will vote on its FY2012-2013 budget this month.