People who disagree with sobriety checkpoints might also disagree with a new tactic of the Los Angeles Police Department. However, the LAPD's new thrust against drunken driving merits notice in Pennsylvania and everywhere else.

Frustrated by the high number of DUI crashes, LAPD officers have begun staking out the homes of repeat drunk drivers in the San Fernando Valley and waiting for hours - even days - until those drivers violate conditions of their probation. A task force of five officers launched the pilot program in December and has made at least 18 arrests for probation violations since that time.

The program is receiving cooperation from the City Attorney's Office, which has helped identify more than 720 people who have at least two DUI convictions; 40 of those have three DUI convictions.

Understandably, there are people who believe the program violates the probationers' right to privacy, including lawyers who specialize in drunk-driving cases. One such Los Angeles lawyer likened it to "Big Brother . . . consistently watching."

He admitted that no one should be violating the terms of their probation, but he wonders why "Big Brother" should be "waiting at our homes for us to commit an offense."

Doug Gerst, an L.A. officer who helped spearhead the task force, has a good reply:

"They are the ones who are the most likely to take out a family."

With early-release programs in the nation that allow some DUI drivers to get early release in order to free up prison space for those convicted of other categories of serious crime, repeat violators who would not otherwise have drunken-driving access to the highways again are back on the roads endangering others. So they should be fair game for re-arrest if they choose to again place others in danger.

As Laurie Levenson, a professor of law at Loyola Law School, pointed out:

"Legally, there's no violation of any constitutional rights if the police are out in a public space watching somebody driving. They're being very proactive."

Reading the Butler Eagle police reports on many days reveals that police in this county are not ignoring drunken driving. Some headway against the crime is being made.

This isn't a city like Los Angeles, and L.A.'s pilot program might not be needed here, although there are no doubt more than a handful of drivers in this county who should be subjected to this L.A.-style surveillance. Perhaps there are isolated cases of intermittent surveillance here outside the realm of an official program; only the county's police officers know.

Regardless, the intent must be to get drunken drivers off the road. This county has had enough tragedy rooted in someone's choice to get behind the wheel of a vehicle after drinking.

If the anti-drunk-driving fight must use unusual approaches embracing the LAPD's attitude, so be it - as long as whatever tactics are employed are legal.

Roadways hold plenty of possibilities for danger without the alcohol factor.

- J.R.K.