Officers halted drivers Saturday night in Northeast D.C. as the Metropolitan Police Department launched new checkpoint crackdowns designed to prevent crime in a neighborhood wracked by gun violence.

Officers asked drivers why they were entering the Trinidad neighborhood at two “safety zone” locations, turning away those not headed home, to a doctor, to work, to school, or to visit family or attend church.

Most vehicles checked were denied access to the neighborhood — keeping citizens from visiting friends and meetings, said American Civil Liberties Union regional executive director Johnny Barnes. The organization had 25 people monitoring the efforts Saturday and called it “troubling.”

Starting at 8 p.m., officers stopped vehicles headed into the neighborhood, checking driver’s licenses and seeking “legitimate” purpose for passing through, including a check of an ice cream truck.

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The opening night attracted a horde of about 80 people, including police, civil rights monitors and reporters to the 1400 block of Montello Avenue Northeast.

Police spokesman Quintin Peterson said the time and location of the next checkpoint enforcement has not yet been determined.

Many residents interviewed criticized the checkpoints, saying they constituted harassment that would not directly address the murders, but others applauded police for trying something to prevent the violence.

“I take a dim view of this because the criminals are going to drive around it and it’s a poor substitute for community policing,” said Phil Mendelson, a D.C. Council member. “The idea of stopping people in a neighborhood, asking them what their purpose is and rejecting them if you don’t like it, that is not liberty in the U.S.”

“I don’t know that this is the best solution to what’s going on,” added Montello Avenue resident Maureen McAnnar, 29, who applauded the police presence but expressed concerns with the approach. “I like the cops being in the neighborhood, I do.”

Others strongly welcomed the controversial police stance.

“Under normal circumstances, I would have a problem with it, but in an area like this … you should look at who’s bring this nonsense here and keep them out of the neighborhood,” said Marvin Harrington, 43, who visited his grandmother’s home on Owen Place. “When you have a high volume of crime and people being killed, you have to try something.”

dgenz@dcexaminer.com