Our readers have just notified us of an unlawful SMOG CHECK on Treat & Cowel Rd in Concord. Local law enforcement are out in force today! They are stopping vehicles that are legally registered and unlawfully detaining them for up to 20 minutes to conduct and illegal on site smog check investigation. If you happen to pass this, email us (diabloreporter@hush.com) pictures or video of the event and let’s get the word out so that unsuspecting driver’s are not stopped and harassed.
Let’s hear what our reader wrote:
“While traveling to work today, I came up on a checkpoint at Treat Blvd and Cowell Rd in Concord. I couldn’t believe it! This isn’t an unusual driver’s license or dui checkpoint, this is to check your SMOG. They have the big piece of equipment out there to run the checks and it could take upwards of 20 minutes of delay time to have testing done. Is this protecting and serving the public? What about REAL crimes being committed? I’ve been paying taxes for a long time, but I don’t want to pay for my delay and harassment!”
We have received several emails about this incident and the public isn’t happy. What do you think? Are these illegal? Waste of time and money? Should this be happening on the streets of Concord?
For more information on checkpoints and the legal issues that surrounds them, please visit our DUI Checkpoint Frequently Asked Questions Page!
UPDATE: We’ve got pictures!
Diablo Reporter 
I heard about this happening today too. Isn’t this a violation of our 4th Amendment rights? I hope they’re only offering a “voluntary” free smog-check opportunity and not actually detaining us until our cars pass their smog check. I wonder where the money is coming from to provide this “free service” since ultimately it’s funded by taxpayers.
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Geoff, the money to fund this is coming from the tickets they give out doing it, the circle of government….all at the expense of the taxpayers.
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Never heard of such a stop before. WOW!
Thank You
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I did a search, & like it or not this isn’t “unconstitutional”. It was written into the vehicle code/DMV by lawmakers.
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/appndxa/hlthsaf/hs44081.htm
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I did a search as well, I found something called the 4th Amendment! Also, nothing you sign can forfeit future rights. “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”
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Thanks for posting the link, but a state law that violates the Constitution is still an unconstitutional law.
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It is unconstitutional for an officer to conduct a traffic stop without probable cause. Even in those instances where the police have set up road check points, they must have a significant police reason and follow a set pattern in order to avoid running afoul of the U.S. and California Constitutions. If the stop is without cause, all the evidence that is accumulated thereafter to prove a person was in this case violating smog “laws”, it will will be suppressed. Thus wasting the U.S. Courts and tax payer’s time time and money while simultaneously violating people’s 4th amendment right and making them go to court to prove it. I see this as an unnecessary hardship on those that have the right to travel free and unrestrained.
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