Libertarian ping.To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here
Posted on 08/04/2006 1:28:17 PM PDT by Cagey
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Charlotte-Mecklenburg police supervisors offered prizes to officers who wrote the most traffic tickets during an eight-day period over the July Fourth holiday.
Five officers from the department's North Division earned $10 gift certificates to Dick's Sporting Goods, although officials Wednesday couldn't say how many tickets were issued between July 1-8.
Police Chief Darrel Stephens and Maj. John Diggs, who oversees the division, said they were not aware of the contest until they were contacted Wednesday by The Charlotte Observer.
"I don't think there is anything inherently evil or bad about rewarding officers for putting in extra effort for a good cause," Diggs said. "I don't want anybody getting a ticket when they shouldn't get one. But I think they were all valid. I don't think anybody is overly inspired by a $10 gift certificate."
In a memo obtained by The Observer, Sgt. Mark Faulkenberry told other officers that the goal of the campaign was to make roads safer.
"I am asking each of you to issue as many citations as possible during that week in an effort to increase visibility, slow down speeders, and keep our streets more safe through traffic enforcement," Faulkenberry wrote. "The highest producer from each shift will receive a gift certificate from Dick's."
But George Laughrun, a local defense attorney, said ticketing should not be a game.
"It goes to credibility," Laughrun said. "I know it's $10, but it's the principle....
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
Here's a good one about a cop who was threatened with being fired if he didn't write enought tickets:
http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/12/1216.asp
I know of a young lady 'dancer' who got pulled over driving through Alabama, I think. The police searched her car and found a portfolio of explicit photos of her. They called for back-up, gave everyone a good chance to look it over thoroughly, then let her go.
Beautiful.
Where's Waldo?
sorry.
Yep, been through Waldo, many times. Isn't there another city on 301 that's also considered a "trap."
Oh, wait a minute, that pesky word 'individual' ... aaah, I answered my own question ...
Read about your favorite speed trap here:
http://www.speedtrap.org/index.html
We have a mutual friend that said she was doing 80 something on I-81 in VA.
The speed limit was 60mph.....
You can guess the end of the $$$$ story.
I have lived in my community more than 60 years and have watched the police lose the respect of the community for exactly this behavior.
Most recently the city was facing a huge budget shortfall and PC revenue generation just wouldn't cover it.
They had to go to the ballot for a tax increase. The Fire department proposed a hefty parcel tax and the Police wanted to join them. After sampling the electorate, the firemen told the cops to take a hike, as having them on the ballot as a fire/police assessment would cause the voters to reject the parcel tax. They went Fire dept. only to pass it.
Immediately the cops ratcheted down the traffic trap type tickets to try to slide under the people's attention span, and avoid being absorbed by the Sheriff's dept. and the low seniority positions that would bring.
They should have thought about their PR a lot earlier, and not gone PC.
You might even be able to challenge the speed limit. There are limitations on how speed limits must be set, and it sounds like that one might be out of line.
There's no city in the country with a reputation like Waldo for being a speed trap.
I was watching CBS national news about 10 years ago and saw it get mentioned.
A good friend of mine (an 18 year veteran Deputy) got stopped there recently for doing 10+ mph over the limit. The only problem was that he wasn't speeding. He was going 5mph UNDER. He asked to speak to the knucklehead's supervisor and told him that the stop was BS. He ended up not getting ticketed but only from "professional courtesy", not because the stop was bogus to begin with.
I'm paying a lawyer $275 to fix it - I might be able to get it dropped and just pay the $100 fine on my own, but it's not worth missing work for.
A distant cousin:
http://www.katu.com/printstory.asp?ID=84263
It is possible, especially if the Porsche has headlights with eyelashes and winks.
Were you in a passing zone?
There was only one yellow line down the center of the road, if that's what you mean. :o)
"Cops fighting real crime don't generate revenue. Cops stopping drivers for minor infractions generates tons of dollars."
Double BINGO. The thing I find highly amusing here in Northern AZ is how the cops rarely make any drug busts in homes. But they sure do catch alot thru traffic stops. It spares the low end Barney Fifes from having to do any REAL police work that might involve investigative skills.
Libertarian ping.To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here
I have long suspected that cops had quotas to meet for writing tickets...
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