Posted on 05/19/2008 12:17:51 PM PDT by george76
Among the thousands of drivers who have been issued $40 fines after being nabbed by Montgomery County's new speed cameras are scores of county police officers. The difference is, many of the officers are refusing to pay.
The officers are following the advice of their union, which says the citations are issued not to the driver but to the vehicle's owner -- in this case, the county.
That view has rankled Police Chief J. Thomas Manger and County Council Member Phil Andrews (D-Gaithersburg-Rockville), who chairs the Public Safety Committee.
"You can't have one set of laws for police officers and another one for the rest of the world,"
In recent weeks, officers have twice been photographed speeding past a camera and extending a middle finger, an act that police supervisors interpreted as a gesture of defiance.
Under the law, owners of vehicles, not drivers, are punished for failure to pay fines. Manger said, however, that officers who continue to ignore citations might be disciplined.
Montgomery is the only county in Maryland that is authorized to use cameras to enforce speed limits, but legislation is moving through the General Assembly this year to allow speed cameras statewide.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Well, there you go - just send it on to the bank.
There are no other valid reasons, other than responding to an emergency, to exceed the posted speed limit. If the police department believes there are other valid reason to exceed the posted limits they should make the list of reasons available to the general public so John Q Public can validate his reasons for speeding.
Call them what they really are: goons.
Maryland “Freak State” PING!
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