Cops, Quotas & Speed Traps

[JonSch7]

http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes...ing=&URL=0300-0399/0318/Sections/0318.18.html

Breaks down fines, and who gets what money. (At least in Florida). You be the judge on if you think anyone is really making any money.

 

[oldscalphunter]

I can name exit #'s galore in Ga. on I-75. , or towns. It's all up and down, especially the smaller communities. Ashburn (exit 79-84-ish Mile markers). Tifton Exits 58-64, Macon exits. Our county (Lowndes) is notorious exits 6-29 for nailing speeders and druggies. The country roads are worse through small Ga. towns, trust me, I've been burned to a $435 ish ticket a decade or a bit more ago. 62+ in a 45, as I didn't slow down in time

I was doing 80 in a 55 a few weeks back on 27... drove past a cop who just waived. I didn't even try to slow down. Had to drive it again last weekend. Some girl from FSU and I were hauling ass for hours on 27 (about 2 hrs)... we we going 80-85 when we came over the hill on a 55 mph stretch. Speed trap was right there. While we both slowed down considerably (to 70), the cops didn't move. Haven't had a ticket in years... those were 2 situations where I could've been nailed.

 

[ohio#1nolefan]

Small town cops are usually arses and big city cops are usually pretty cool. They normally say "hi" when I walk past them, friendly and polite. I always felt like police officer should have a term limit. If you aren't promoted after five years you part ways with the force. The worst cops seem to be the disgruntled older guys that never made sergeant or detective.

Not sure what your definition of 'small town' is but I would tend to agree..
Disagree with 5 yr. term. Can be unrealistic in many cases.
I deal with many cops and the the thing I've noticed about 90% of them is that they are wired differently. Most have ego's and attitudes like no other. Having said that it may be due to the thugs,junkies and dregs of life they deal with on a daily basis.

 

[oldscalphunter]

Not sure what your definition of 'small town' is but I would tend to agree..
Disagree with 5 yr. term. Can be unrealistic in many cases.
I deal with many cops and the the thing I've noticed about 90% of them is that they are wired differently. Most have ego's and attitudes like no other. Having said that it may be due to the thugs,junkies and dregs of life they deal with on a daily basis.

I think that would take a toll on anyone.

 

[YogiNole]

https://www.waze.com/

This x 100
I use it religiously everytime I drive. The "vehicle on shoulder" alert can get tiring but most times I've been warned of cops or red light cameras to slow down enough not to get in trouble or come to a complete stop before turning right.

 

[seminole97]

http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes...ing=&URL=0300-0399/0318/Sections/0318.18.html

Breaks down fines, and who gets what money. (At least in Florida). You be the judge on if you think anyone is really making any money.

Breaks down where the money goes, but to better understand if "anyone is really [t]aking any money" it would be better to see the revenue aggregates.
How many millions of dollars do you think it is?

googled 'florida traffic ticket revenue 2013' and saw this:

"Across Florida, more than 400 intersections in 70 communities are being monitored by red light cameras. An average red-light ticket costs $158: $70 goes to the state's general revenue fund, $10 goes to the health administrative trust fun, $3 goes to the brain and spinal cord injury trust fund and $75 is retained by the city. Of the $75 retained by the municipality, a portion is paid directly to the camera company with the city keeping the rest. In 2012, cities in Florida made more than $100 million in revenue."

That's just for the red light cameras.
And the sad thing is, the firms running these cameras have been busted for LOWERING the yellow times to increase tickets. To improve safety intersection with high numbers of red light accidents should be increasing the yellow time...

 

[seminole97]

On that last part, about the government making intersections more dangerous so they could take more money:

A subtle, but significant tweak to Florida's rules regarding traffic signals has allowed local cities and counties to shorten yellow light intervals, resulting in millions of dollars in additional red light camera fines. The 10 News Investigators discovered the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) quietly changed the state's policy on yellow intervals in 2011, reducing the minimum below federal recommendations.

 

[semihawk]

http://www.news-journalonline.com/article/20150516/COLUMNS/150519587

was going to mention waldo and Hampton fl, but this link beat me to it. just up the road from starke fl on us 301 from is the town of Lawtey fl. careful here also. they nail to gates making the pilgrimage from jax to hogtown on gameday getting some reptiles both ways.

 

[YogiNole]

http://www.news-journalonline.com/article/20150516/COLUMNS/150519587

Traffic citations paid for 60% of Waldo PD's revenue plus 50% of city budget. Basically an extortion scheme run by the local officials

 

[JonSch7]

Traffic citations paid for 60% of Waldo PD's revenue plus 50% of city budget. Basically an extortion scheme run by the local officials

But this an exception, and not the norm. It is the main reason it is no longer police department.

As for red light cameras, these were city and counties wanting these, because of the sole purpose of gaining revenue. It had nothing to do with law enforcement. Many cities and counties have done away with or are about to due to lack of revenue or legal issues. I myself think am not a fan of them...