Police and Big Brother collected DNA and blood from motorists at roadblocks
Off-duty cops in two counties in Alabama spent the weekend collecting saliva and blood samples from drivers at roadblocks.
"If you're doing roadblocks and asking people to stop, you have to have the deputies there to make sure everything is safe," he said. "It's not about detaining anybody, because the survey is voluntary and anonymous. It's about making sure the traffic is safe in that area" Jose Ucles, a spokesman for the National Traffic Highway Safety Administration, said.
Here’s how the roadblocks worked:
Off-duty St. Clair County deputies stopped cars at random at road block areas. The road blocks were marked with signs stating it was a paid survey. Cars stopped were asked for voluntary cooperation. Drivers were offered $10 for a mouth swab, and $50 for a blood test. If they refused, they were free to drive away.
Road blocks took place Friday at the New London Fire Department, Alabama 34 in Pell City near the old Dan’s Car Wash, U.S. 231 at Alabama 144, at White’s Chapel Parkway and Moody Crossroads in Moody. In Bibb County, the road blocks took place in five areas in the county on Friday night through early Sunday morning.
If drivers participated, they were directed to an area where someone from the group carrying out the study took the samples, he said.
“It was completely voluntary,” Lt. Freddie Turrentine of the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department Turrentine said, saying reports that people were detained if they did not cooperate were untrue. “If they didn’t want to take part, they could drive off.”
The samples were anonymous, he said
As it turns out, the survey was being conducted on behalf of an agency of the Federal Government:
According to Ucles, the Office of Drug Control Policy is contributing funding and support for the study, which is going on in 60 sites around the nation. The Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation is conducting the tests through this fall. St. Clair and Bibb county officials said this would be the only time the road blocks are conducted this year.
The samples, Ucles said, were used to measure whether drivers had the presence of over-the-counter, prescription and illegal drugs in their systems, or alcohol and the driver’s individual blood alcohol concentration.
Ucles said there were four previous national roadside surveys conducted in 1973, 1986, 1996 and 2007, but this is only the second time a survey has obtained data on drug use by drivers.
The survey used deputies to stop traffic, he said, for traffic safety.
“If you’re doing roadblocks and asking people to stop, you have to have the deputies there to make sure everything is safe,” he said. “It’s not about detaining anybody, because the survey is voluntary and anonymous. It’s about making sure the traffic is safe in that area.”
http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/off-duty-alabama-cops-collected-dna-and-blood-samples-at-roadblocks/
http://dailycaller.com/2013/06/10/off-duty-cops-collect-dna-samples-at-alabama-roadblocks/?goback=.gde_1829117_member_249096735
http://www.naturalnews.com/040726_DNA_swabs_roadblocks_police_state.html
Feds, state officials comment on St. Clair, Bibb mouth swabs, blood sample road blocks:
http://blog.al.com/east-alabama/2013/06/feds_state_officials_comment_o.html#incart_river_default
Why were roadblocks in St. Clair and Bibb counties asking for blood and DNA samples this weekend?
http://blog.al.com/east-alabama/2013/06/why_were_roadblocks_in_st_clai.html