By Aaron Nelsen : September 24, 2013 : Updated: September 25, 2013 6:11am
mysanantonio.com

McALLEN — Capturing some people's frustration with the new Texas Department of Public Safety road checkpoints in the Rio Grande Valley, several Facebook pages provide alerts about the locations.

One started Tuesday morning — https://www.facebook.com/pages/Alert...01096533365404 — has already garnered about 20,000 “likes.”

Written in Spanish, the page asks people to send photos and locations of any checkpoints they see so the information can be posted immediately.

Dozens of people had already posted to the site as of Tuesday evening, and several locations are identified, but the accuracy of some of the information is being questioned by those on the site.

There are photographs of two checkpoints and their locations — one in Alamo and another in Mercedes, both in Hidalgo County. There is a photo of a third but without a location.

Two more Facebook pages — roadblock956 and RGV DPS Random Checkpoints — were created later Tuesday, are in English and quickly gained thousands of “likes” as people added checkpoint locations.

DPS recently decided to ratchet up its patrol presence in the Valley and establish road checkpoints in response to what it called public safety problems.

The announcement cited “significant criminal activity occurring in South Texas,” including human smuggling and trafficking, drug smuggling, stash house operations and home invasions. The agency also noted a number of vehicle crashes.

DPS said the checkpoints would be used to enforce compliance with state driver's license, insurance, vehicle safety and registration requirements.

“The public should not be alarmed if they soon see an increased law enforcement presence in the Rio Grande Valley area,” DPS Director Steven McCraw said in a statement earlier this month.

The agency offered little in the way of details, such as the number of additional officers it has assigned to the region, plans for implementation or the length of time.

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