Posted on 08/30/2014 5:55:26 AM PDT by bamahead
WALDO — Five Florida police officers told the Waldo City Council that they’ve been under a quota to write traffic tickets, which is a violation of Florida law.
The Gainesville Sun reports Officer Brandon Roberts told council members on Tuesday night they were required by Chief Mike Szabo to write 12 speeding tickets per 12-hour shift, or face punishment. He offered an electronic presentation and printed emails as evidence.
Roberts said they were speaking up because they no longer have faith in their “chain of command.”
Waldo was ranked as the nation’s third worst speed trap by a national publication in 2012. The Sun reports that documents show about half the city’s $1 million budget comes from an item listed as “police revenue.”
(Excerpt) Read more at wptv.com ...
“Officer Brandon Roberts told council members on Tuesday night they were required by Chief Mike Szabo to write 12 speeding tickets per 12-hour shift ... half the city’s $1 million budget comes from an item listed as “police revenue.””
Gosh, do you think what Roberts told the council was a big surprise to them?
My guess is that one or more of these officers have another beef with the chief. Either they did not get the raises (what they thought their cut should be) or some other issue so they threw him under the bus. Up until that time they were perfectly happy to go along with the plan.
>> Alachua County Sheriff’s Office To Supervise Waldo After Ticketing Charges
Yeah, the judge ‘n me
got a deal, you see —
we split the money, fair
‘cept for thirty per cent
to the county seat
to keep the law out of our hair.
Hoyt Axton “Speed Trap”
Like.
Where’s Waldo?
It is going to be what people sometimes call the luck of the draw whether that many traffic sins actually happen in the view of any particular officer shift.
Someone on rush hour duty will probably see plenty. Someone in the wee hours, not so much.
“... I hate to slow down to the speed limit...”
Huh???? So you purposely break the law and hate it when you have to obey the law???
You sound kinda like the guy who said, “I hate getting up early just so I can get to work on time...”
As I read all the posts I see the normal “bad cop” comments, but no one seems to wonder about the mayor’s role. The cops are wrong for not speaking up sooner, but to whom? With speeding tickets providing half the city’s budget how is it possible that the mayor, city manager and town council didn’t already know and encourage this? The place is a cesspool and the cops are just the part you can see.
Szabo was suspended on Aug 12. He was replaced by one Corporal Smith, who was named interim chief. Cpl Smith has already been suspended for misuse of city property. The county is taking over the operation of the police dept., we’ll see how long they last before the city fathers regain control They are not going to loose that much money without a fight.
The love of money is the root of all sorts of evil... it is a difficult balance. We need money to live but making it an object in itself is an escalator to hell.
Some people say a law, any law, is good just because it is a law.
Others notice that, in general, many traffic restrictions are more arbitrary than safety oriented.
If the traffic you encounter is pushing past the posted limits, then an ethical question results. Is it law or life that I want to respect most?
If it is law, you obey it...If you don’t like it, you work to change it...
Obama is a prime example of someone to whom law means nothing...
Does anyone want to be like Obama????????
“The cops are wrong for not speaking up sooner, but to whom? With speeding tickets providing half the city’s budget how is it possible that the mayor, city manager and town council didn’t already know and encourage this? The place is a cesspool and the cops are just the part you can see.”
If the State of Florida were ethical itself, they would take over and disband the town of Waldo. But government officials are all buddies out on the golf course. The real problem here for all of them now is how to put the sheeite back in the horse.
>>Huh???? So you purposely break the law and hate it when you have to obey the law???
>>You sound kinda like the guy who said, “I hate getting up early just so I can get to work on time...”
Yes, I do purposely break the law. That’s why I drive a 420 hp Mustang. So, get over in the right lane where you belong. I can tell by the tone of your post that you are a Left Lane Vigilante.
But, I have no problem with being at work on time because I AGREED to that contract. No one consulted me on the speed limit.
Why don’t you have a REAL car???
When I returned from Vietnam, I bought a 1970 Hemi Cuda...
Back then, you woulda just parked and watched the REAL cars cruise....*LOL*
>>Why don’t you have a REAL car???
Because a 1970 Hemi Cuda costs about $200k these days.
Now, its the Hemi Challengers that just sit and watch the REAL cars cruise.
Raise the hood on that piece of crap you call a car and tell me how much pavement you can see??? None at all...That’s because of all the EPA and emissions crap that is built in...All this BS reduces your REAL hp down to about 350...
My 426 hemi had 475 bhp and you could see pavement on BOTH sides of the engine block, even with the Hookers..I had a Holley 1145 4 barrel sitting on an Edelbrock high rise. A 3/4 duration solid lift cam and would blow your butt into the ditch...*ROFL*
I will admit that I removed the 382 gear that came stock and replaced it with a 286 gear that the NASCAR driver I worked for got me...I was slow off the line but could top end around 160-170mph at 6500 RPM on the Interstate late at night...But back then, I was young and stupid...*L*
>>My 426 hemi had
“Had”. Nuff said.
My car dynos at 394 RWHP and still gets 20 mpg average, and it has an air conditioner. What do you drive TODAY?
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