Notification of police activities?

[xkingx]

What is the name of your state? California

My question is, is it illegal to notify others of certain police activities by any means?

Reasoning/Situation: I live in a city where the local police setup checkpoints in the blink of an eye and impound tons of cars belonging to mostly illegal immigrants since they do not have a drivers license. This is the main focus of their checkpoints but they also impound underage drivers and DUI'ers. Their practice is rightfully within the law but still very controversial here and there are organizations trying to put a stop to it. My wife is an illegal immigrant and we are in the lengthy process of getting her citizenship, but that could take up to 2 years and then some. In the mean time she has to watch out for these traps or we gotta pay roughly $300 to get the car out of impound, then do the court thing.

So what would the repercussions be if I setup a website that people could sign up for and be alerted of the location of active traps so they can avoid them? Alerts would come in the form of emails or text messages. Thanks for any help you can provide.

[CdwJava]

Originally Posted by xkingx

What is the name of your state? California

My question is, is it illegal to notify others of certain police activities by any means?

Reasoning/Situation: I live in a city where the local police setup checkpoints in the blink of an eye and impound tons of cars belonging to mostly illegal immigrants since they do not have a drivers license. This is the main focus of their checkpoints but they also impound underage drivers and DUI'ers. Their practice is rightfully within the law but still very controversial here and there are organizations trying to put a stop to it. My wife is an illegal immigrant and we are in the lengthy process of getting her citizenship, but that could take up to 2 years and then some. In the mean time she has to watch out for these traps or we gotta pay roughly $300 to get the car out of impound, then do the court thing.

So what would the repercussions be if I setup a website that people could sign up for and be alerted of the location of active traps so they can avoid them? Alerts would come in the form of emails or text messages. Thanks for any help you can provide.

This kind of alert would be perfectly lawful. I doubt it would be effective, but it's lawful.

- Carl

[Zigner]

Originally Posted by xkingx

What is the name of your state? California

My question is, is it illegal to notify others of certain police activities by any means?

Reasoning/Situation: I live in a city where the local police setup checkpoints in the blink of an eye and impound tons of cars belonging to mostly illegal immigrants since they do not have a drivers license.

GREAT!

This is the main focus of their checkpoints but they also impound underage drivers and DUI'ers.

GREAT!

Their practice is rightfully within the law but still very controversial here and there are organizations trying to put a stop to it. My wife is an illegal immigrant and we are in the lengthy process of getting her citizenship, but that could take up to 2 years and then some. In the mean time she has to watch out for these traps or we gotta pay roughly $300 to get the car out of impound, then do the court thing.

Or, she could <gasp!> not drive. Heck, she could even obey the law regarding citizenship...that's a novel idea...

So what would the repercussions be if I setup a website that people could sign up for and be alerted of the location of active traps so they can avoid them? Alerts would come in the form of emails or text messages. Thanks for any help you can provide.

I'm sure Carl will be along to answer this. In the mean time, why don't you just try obeying the law?


Edit: (Carl's Quick!)

[CdwJava]

I was busy with a late breakfast when I originally replied.

Yes, it is legal to notify the public of this kind of enforcement activity. However, I imagine that it does not focus on illegal immigrants, it is either a DUI checkpoint that is catching DRUNK illegals, or a license or vehicle inspection checkpoint that does so.

Do you have any idea how many collisions illegals are involved in? And the fact they are unlicensed also means they are uninsured? The loss to insurance companies and private individuals is in the millions as a result of illegals driving.

Your wife would be better served not to drive if she wants to remain under the radar. Although ... if you are MARRIED she shouldn't have a problem with citizenship unless YOU are not a citizen, either. Or, are you "married" in mind only not officially?

- Carl

[xkingx]

Or you coud, *gasp*, put your 'Ron Paul 4 Prez' flag down and stop hating. Surprisingly, even illegal immigrants go to work, and some were brought here over 15 years ago when they were underage and really can't help the fact that they can't legally drive. It's of necessity, and necessity has no law.

@Carl: Thanks for the response. While doing some more searching I ran across another website that actually already does this, but it doesn't look like anybody is even using it, so your right about it probably not being very effective. I'm pretty sure I can do something with the idea locally though. The hardest part is getting the initial supporting user base, then after that it's just spreading the word. The users themselves are what makes or breaks a site.

[Zigner]

Originally Posted by xkingx

Or you coud, *gasp*, put your 'Ron Paul 4 Prez' flag down and stop hating. Surprisingly, even illegal immigrants go to work, and some were brought here over 15 years ago when they were underage and really can't help the fact that they can't legally drive. It's of necessity, and necessity has no law.

They don't HAVE to drive. (I live in LA County, So. Calif., I know about driving)

Oh, and for the record - Ron Paul ain't the one for me

[xkingx]

Actually, not having a license does not mean you can't get insurance. She has been insured since day one, and when we got married I put her on my insurance plan. And yes, we are married and I am a citizen. Born here, raised here, served my country here. But that doesn't matter when getting her citizenship, the only thing being a US citizen helps is the wait period. If she wasn't married to a US citizen the wait would be 5+ years, where as now it's 1 1/2 to 2 years. We put several thousand dollars into an state certified immigration specialist so yes, that is the shortest route.

[CdwJava]

Originally Posted by xkingx

It's of necessity, and necessity has no law.

Well ... yeah, it does. While there IS a necessity defense in the law for certain offenses, using it in order to drive is not one of those things for which it can be argued. And many insurance companies will NOT pay out with an uninsired driver. You might want to check your policy and see if they will cover her when she has never had a valid license. We hear this all the time - they had insurance because they would not pay out when they found the driver was uninsured.

There just is not a whole lot of support for unlicensed driving whether it be by illegals or others.

Also, note, that any car she drives can be impounded for thirty days (at a cost of nearly $2,000 to get out of impound) if she is stopped for ANY reason.

- Carl

[xkingx]

Geez, ur right. What the hell was I thinking? I work in San Diego and live right next door so when you say you know about driving, believe me I know you know that I know you know. After work today I'll have her sell her car and i'll just let my 3 month pregnant wife walk miles to work and miles back every day. Especially in this crazy rain and cold weather we've been having. Ya know, it's either that or wait for buses that don't run on a schedule that matches her working hours, or shell out money for daily cab rides cuz it's not like we got a baby on the way that we could use that money for.

[xkingx]

Originally Posted by CdwJava

Well ... yeah, it does. While there IS a necessity defense in the law for certain offenses, using it in order to drive is not one of those things for which it can be argued. And many insurance companies will NOT pay out with an uninsired driver. You might want to check your policy and see if they will cover her when she has never had a valid license. We hear this all the time - they had insurance because they would not pay out when they found the driver was uninsured.

There just is not a whole lot of support for unlicensed driving whether it be by illegals or others.

Also, note, that any car she drives can be impounded for thirty days (at a cost of nearly $2,000 to get out of impound) if she is stopped for ANY reason.

- Carl

Actually, that was a translated latin quote, lol. I didn't mean it was any kind of defense. And yes, insurance companies insure illegal immigrants with no valid drivers license. I am very thorough with these things and she is covered if she's driving my car or hers. And yes, she's been through the $2,000 impound a couple times...

[CdwJava]

Originally Posted by xkingx

Actually, that was a translated latin quote, lol. I didn't mean it was any kind of defense. And yes, insurance companies insure illegal immigrants with no valid drivers license. I am very thorough with these things and she is covered if she's driving my car or hers. And yes, she's been through the $2,000 impound a couple times...

Well, there's the money for the cab rides!

You can't be doing too badly if you can afford a couple of those impounds - heck, I couldn't!

And, of course, you realize that each of those impounds is accompanied by a misdemeanor criminal citation, right? What about those? If she's been through them twice, the chances of her getting a license even when she IS a citizen becomes greatly diminished. Once the cops catch on that a citation is not working, they will throw her in jail rather than cite her.

I also lived and worked in San Diego - and I know there are options. However, most people do not look for the options they see only the "independence" of a motor vehicle. It's about choices. You are choosing to play roulette. That's fine. But, don't complain about the consequences of playing that dangerous game.

- Carl

[xkingx]

Well the $2K+ impounds were when she was a teenager, so way before i met her. I'm a network security engineer/penetration tester which is just the corporate jargon for paid hacker, so we're doing decent. But with the cost of living out here these days it's not easy to toss money around on daily cab rides. Thanks a lot for your input, much appreciated

[Zigner]

Originally Posted by xkingx

Thanks a lot for your input, much appreciated

You're welcome! Glad I could help!

[xkingx]

And here comes the towel boy with the post hump...