Seen any emails about cops giving out more tickets to make up revenue?

[raccoon]

Recently at my workplace we all received an email about this.

"The City of Bumfuck has received numerous e-mails today from concerned citizens who were copied on a mass e-mail from an unknown source regarding a traffic stop that allegedly occurred last week on Suchandsuch Road . In the e-mail, the author claims that an acquaintance was told by the police officer who pulled him over that the City has begun an aggressive enforcement campaign to offset state and local budget cuts, and that officers have been instructed to issue as many citations as possible to generate revenue...

Unfortunately, other police jurisdictions in the country have also been targeted by similar e-mails, and as a result, I want to personally assure the citizens of Bumfuck that the allegations in the e-mail are false and that no such incident occurred.


Chief Soandso"


I suspect it's yet another urban legend making the rounds.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

1. have not seen the email, but the NC

state troopers have been on a rampage recently it seems

[Uben]

2. Don't kid yourself

Of course they are writing more tickets! Their office is directly affected by budget concerns and generating more revenue is one way of easing shortfalls. My nephew is a state trooper, and he told me that they get more and better equipment depending on how many drug confiscations and forfeitures they have. Just drive safely and legally, and you'll have no problems. If you are one who likes to push the limits, ie. driving 5-10 mph over the limit, you will probably be getting stopped and cited......which is exactly what they are supposed to do!

[BlueJazz]

3. 2 days ago, I was talking to the police officer who lives 4 houses down from me.

I pointedly asked if the City wanted "More Tickets"
He said "Well,Just drive a little slower and safer than you usually do".

[MineralMan]

4. The technique has been used in many places

to increase revenue. There's a suburb of St. Paul that derives a lot of income from ticketing drivers. Everyone ignores the basic 30mph limit on unmarked surface streets. In the city of Maplewood, you're going to get a ticket for that, I guarantee, if you do it very much.

That appears to be what the city cops on patrol do to while away the hours of boring patrol. The city benefits from the fines.

Me? I drive 30 mph on those streets, to the annoyance of other drivers. So far, no tickets.

[queenjane]

5. My entire commute is now a speed trap

Trooper, sheriff's deputies, and policeman parked everywhere, radars aimed, bidding their time. I used to NEVER see law enforcement.

I use speed control constantly. So far, no tickets.

[Brewman_Jax]

6. Not just using cops

one of the new metro 'burb cities has added 6 red light cams, that I've seen, for that purpose, tho' they'd never say that out loud.

[woodsprite]

8. They are using those too. I haven't made up my mind if

they make those intersections more dangerous or not. I've seen many people slam on their breaks as soon as the light turns yellow, even when it was unsafe to stop so suddenly.

[truebrit71]

9. I recall a surevy done in the UK that showed that they actually INCREASED accidents rather than...

...decrease them precisely for the reason you stated...They have bugger all to do with "safety" and EVERYTHING to do with revenue generation...just like everything else the cops do when they're not too busy tasing innocent people or beating the shit out of them...

[tyedyeto]

11. Not only red light cams, but roving 'photo enforcement zones'

They place a vehicle on the side of the road with radar and camera but no human in sight. Photos are taken of speeders then tickets mailed. The claim is for safety but it's all about the money.

[Brewman_Jax]

14. Photo enforcement zones?

I never heard of those. I need to read up on them. If some places are using them, I'm sure that other places are planning them. :hide:

[tyedyeto]

16. Yep, happening right now in the Tucson AZ area

Some radio stations are telling people where they are and at what times.

I've seen one vehicle set up on I19. They do place a 'photo enforcement zone' sign about 1/2 mile before you actually reach the camera vehicle. A couple of weeks ago, it was on the northbound side when I went north, then a few hours later it was on the southbound side when I headed home.

[woodsprite]

7. Happens all the time around here

Citizens definitely notice that cops 'step it up' toward the end of the month and near elections. Don't go joyriding thru lower Delaware or Elsmere. That *DID* make the newspaper about how much revenue they take in from speed traps. I thought they were supposed to stop it, but I still saw them setup in Elsmere, Odessa and Harrington.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

10. No email but real world experience.

I have been stopped four times in the last few weeks, all by police from two of the smaller cities around here. They have all been minor fix-it tickets (broken taillight lens -- a lens that has been broken for 4+ years and never been a problem before)), and they were all from officers who were clearly setting themselves up in areas to ticket people (I saw one officer repeatedly park in the same spot, stopping just about everyone he could for various minor infractions). I have been driving for over 25 years in these very same cities and have never seen anything like this. By the fourth stop I was so pissed I just flat out told the officer they must be desperate for money since the State is all but bankrupt (this is CA). When I went to go pay for two of the tickets, I found myself in long lines of other very disgruntled motorists who had also been hit with tickets for various minor issues.

It is absolutely clear as a bell to me that the local police have been given orders to up their revenues.

[Caliman73]

12. It is an item of discussion in California too.

No emails, but it has been on local news and other sources that fees for "fix it" tickets have tripled and that more enforcement is being noticed. I am sure that the LE officials aren't coming out and saying it directly, but as other responses indicated, citations and fees bring in revenue for the departments. They are expected to show results of enforcement so it would seem logical that they would feel pressure to increase enforcement in situations that were let go before.

[stewert]

13. I Believe it..........

A couple months ago I was driving my fathers car and I went to a 4 wat stop sign, I stopped, but not all the way, pretty close to stopping all the way, but not quite. Not one car was anywhere in sight, I was the only car at the 4 way stop sign.

I sort of stopped then went through, about 20 seconds later a peoria cop was on my ass, he pulled me over and gave me a ticket. And it's a stop sign I have gone through a million times in my life, and never got a ticket before. In fact, I have never had a ticket for running a stop sign in my entire 34 years of driving. Until a couple months ago.

So I am pretty sure the cops are writing more tickets for every little thing to get more money for the city. I was like 1/2 a second from a complete stop at a 4 way stop sign, with no cars at any of the other signs, and that bastard pulled me over anyway.

I even asked him if I could get a warning because I am disabled with no income and in my fathers car, and he gave me the ticket anyway. It cost me $75, which was all the money I had. So I would bet the cops are out in force writing tickets as fast as possible for any little thing.

[EOTE]

15. I've heard that studies were conducted.

When the budget drops by 1%, revenue from traffic tickets increases by 5%.

[renate]

17. I believe it

I saw three police cars waiting for speeders on my way to Costco this morning. And it's just a 10-minute drive.

(Costco had maybe half the usual number of people in it this morning. :scared: Nobody was looking at books, furniture, clothes, etc--pretty much just the food.)

[DearAbby]

18. It happened to us Christmas Eve

we were stopped by a patrolman, claimed our left brake light was out. We were unaware of the problem. No warning was given, we were ticketed for Unsafe vehicle, fine 118 dollars. We took his word the left light was really out. it happens. But normally we would have recieved a warning ticket.

Problem was, we we got to our destination, we checked all the lights on the vehicles ourselves and found them working. We are lower middle class, 118 dollars especially at this time of year is a sizable chunk of money, and had been earmarked for other bills.

I wonder if they are targeting specific types of vehicles, working class, who would find it very difficult to get off their job to go to court, and so they would pay the fine anyway, as we did.