Prosecutor: Ohio Agency's Fake Drug Checkpoints Legal

An Ohio agency's face drug checkpoints don't violate a 2000 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that officers can't randomly stop cars to search motorists for drugs, a prosecutor told The Plain Dealer .

The Mayfield Heights Police Department "should be applauded" for this legal and legitimate tactic in the city's war on drugs, said Dominic Vitantonio, an assistant prosecutor.

A spokesman with the Cleveland office of the American Civil Liberties Union said he wasn't sure if the practice violates anyone's Fourth Amendment rights against unlawful searches and seizures.

From time to time, the department posts signs that read "Drug Checkpoint Ahead." Instead of a checkpoint, officers wait and observe the behavior of motorists passing the sign. Other signs read, "Police K9 In Use" and "Prepare to Stop."

The fake checkpoints have led to several arrests and drugs seized.