Rosebud, Texas Police Officer Fired Amidst Local Sign Controversy
A Central Texas police officer was fired Monday and could be in more hot water.
The Rosebud Police Officer was fired for working outside city limits against orders. It’s a rule he had reportedly broken multiple times.
On Saturday, the officer reportedly tried to take down a controversial speed trap sign along Highway 77 put up by some residents to warn drivers.
The signs were first put up that Friday as way for Rosebud Signs owner Bobby Bailey to combat what he thought was a police department giving out too many tickets. Rosebud residents helped pitch in and pay for the signs.
“The city was trying to more or less turn the town into a little evil town,” Bailey said. ”We want it to be like nice little Rosebud Texas, like it’s always been.”
The officer got into a heated exchange with one of those residents who helped Bailey with the signs.
“He told me the sign was impeding traffic,” John Borden, Rosebud resident, said.
Rosebud Police Chief Kenneth Proctor confirmed the incident.
“Evidently he confronted one of the owners there, or who put the sign up, and asked him to remove the sign,” Proctor explained.
The sign was on private property and outside the city limits. Chief Proctor said the confrontation about the sign was not the reason for the firing.
The officer is planning to appeal his firing, but it will be up to the Falls County District Attorney’s office to file any criminal charges.
Chief proctor also said while he doesn’t think his city is a speed trap, and has cut down on giving out tickets, he’s in favor of the signs.
News Channel 25 talked to that fired officer Monday night on the phone, he said he was directed by a supervisor to either ticket or arrest the people responsible for the signs. He thought taking it down would cause the least problems.
More signs may be put up on Highway 53, coming from Temple into Rosebud, in order to warn more drivers. Lights also may be added to the current signs so that drivers at night can see them.
(Source: http://www.kxxv.com)
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June 29th, 2012 at 10:59 am
The reason for [Speed Zones] is to slow the Traffic, so as to create an atmosphere of fewer accidents…….[ANYTHING], short of breaking the Law and/or, perhaps Murder, should be able to be utilized to slow the Traffic down……A Sign, that warns of a [Speed Trap] ahead, should do just that…….It is definitely [NOT] a distraction to the [Drivers] of the vehicles passing by……If that be the case, let’s stop [ALL] Roadside Signs and have a much more pleasant and pretty Thoroughfare…….Had you rather the [Sign Holder] be calling the Drivers on a Cell Phone or perhaps even, [Texting Them]?……Wake up, idiots…….[IT WILL CAUSE THE TRAFFIC TO BECOME SLOWER] in that area !!!
June 30th, 2012 at 6:05 am
i agree with Micky. how in the world is this tiny sign an obstruction to traffic? if that’s true then we must remove all signs that clutter the road side. signs of tourist stops,restaurant choices, exit ramps, gas stations, fresh fruit signs, SPEED LIMIT signs. why get mad at a tiny town, who care for people, because the put up a simple sign? i mean take a look government; you put them up ever place, and people still drive fine. so stop trying to take away these peoples freedom of speech and kind loving heart.
July 2nd, 2012 at 11:20 pm
What about this TX law stated in the Austin Statesman ( http://www.statesman.com/news/local/state-puts-brakes-on-martindale-speeding-tickets-575112.html) ? Can we get more small towns from this (http://arencambre.com/blog/2010/03/04/texass-worst-speed-traps/) outdated list?
Let me know,
July 5th, 2012 at 8:08 pm
the police do not like this because traffic court is a revenue generator for the pd and o.t for the officer, so by posting a sign like this you are stopping the police from stealing off motorist and they cant have that. if they really wanted you to slow down they would not be “trapping” in the first place, or hiding behind bushes and buildings like the Gestapo .
July 7th, 2012 at 8:31 pm
I had a similar run in with the Florida Highway Patrol. Flashing my lights at oncoming motorists is something I’ve always done. Back in December of 2009, I was stopped and issued a citation for having “prohibited flashing lights” on my car. I sued the state, and just last month, the FL legislature amended the statute to make it absolutely clear that the types of “prohibited flashing lights” referenced DO NOT INCLUDE HEADLIGHTS that are turned on/off or high/low.
This made national news when the suit was originally filed. I just found it incredibly interesting how in 2005 a Seminole County judge ruled that LEO cannot use this particular statute (316.2397) to cite motorists. Yet, despite that, over 2400 tickets were issued since then. And what’s even worse, the city (Oviedo, FL) that originally issued the 2005 ticket, continued to write tickets.
After suing the state of Florida on the grounds that the stop was illegal, the FHP issued a permanent policy change forbidding the practice of ticketing motorists who warn others using their headlights. Last month, the FL legislature codified it by amending the statute used to cite me. The change makes it expressly PERMITTED to flash (low/high/low beams, or on/off) head lights to communicate with other motorists. The irony is, it was never illegal to communicate like this in the first place. How sad is it that the legislators have to pass a law to tell the police to obey the law?
Right is right – and all those trying to make excuses as to why the “right” of the police to enforce “justice” is more important than upholding our constitutional right to speak freely (even if the content isn’t what the po-po wants to hear) need to come to terms with that.
I now make it a point to start flashing my headlights well BEFORE I pass the radar patrol so they see me coming and going.
Incidentally, another similar case tried last month in Seminole County had a judge take the unusual step of referencing the unconstitutionality of these stops as he dismissed the case against Ryan Kitner. That didn’t stop an Oviedo Lieutenant spokesman from saying, on TV no less, that they don’t care what the judge says, because as they read the law, they will continue to ticket motorists who flash their lights. Such a blatant disrespect of the legal system by those charged to enforce it is precisely why I sued.
From this news report (http://www.wtsp.com/news/article/211886/8/A-class-action-suit-hasnt-stopped-some-police-agencies-from-ticketing-drivers-who-flash-their-lights):
[quote]
And while the Florida Highway Patrol has suspended the practice, because of the lawsuit or because it might not feel as if it is on firm ground, that’s not true in every police agency. For example, in Oviedo in Seminole county where one of the first flashing light tickets was thrown out of court police officers are still allowed to write tickets for people who flash their lights.
Oviedo Police Lt. Beavers says, “We enforce the state statue which clearly says those lights are clearly prohibited.”
Beavers says, “Officers who observe people with flashing lights, other than what was stated in the statute, pull motorists over and through their discretion they either educate the motorist about the violation or they issue a citation.”
However, Jones [my attorney] says it is the Oviedo department and others that write tickets who need to go back to school and get some basic education on the difference between a verb and a noun.[/quote]
By the way, that same spokesman said this about warning others:
[quote
Oviedo Police Lt. Mike Beavers said that's not the case and that police departments are not inhibiting free speech.
"If people want to stand on the side of the road with a sign that the police are running radar ahead, they have every right to do so." [/quote]
Isn’t it funny (sad) that the police can twist things so much? Here you have one agency saying the flashing was illegal, but having a sign on the side of the road like the arrested woman in Houston had (http://autos.aol.com/article/woman-arrested-for-warning-drivers-of-speed-trap-with-makeshift/?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl6%7Csec1_lnk2%26pLid%3D174668), is everyones’ right to do so. A box of donuts says if I’d tried that in Oviedo (before the whole flashing lights fiasco), the story’d change… No doubt the spokesman would then say, “We’re not inhibiting free speech. If people want to flash their headlights to warn that police are running radar a head, they have every right to do so…” It’s a nasty business, law enforcement. piiss off a cop, and they will find a way to get even. Plain and simple. Nice to see the practice exposed in the public, though.
And finally, a nice little summary… http://tallahasseeo.com/2012/03/10/express-first-amendment-rights-legislature-passes-bill-to-make-flashing-headlights-legal/
Finally, a bit of shameless plug. If you, or anyone you know of has received a ticket in the last year for flashing their lights to warn others (in FL), please email me. eric.fhp (at) tab-md [dot] com.
April 17th, 2013 at 5:50 am
Well I know first hand about the speed trap. As I was leaving Rosebud on highway 53, I had just reached the speed of 70. I had already seen the posted speed of 70 up ahead of me just a little ways. Not that far at all. So like everyone else I picked up my speed. Little did I know that right across and a little past that sign, was a Rosebud police officer sitting directly behind the sign that I could not see, because it was over a small downward incline. I have to go pay this ticket. But it should be against the law and someone should do something about this. I am upset because I feel like a victim and I have a CDL. This will go against my license. The officer was rude and it was just one more case where the law proved me right in my belief that they are bullies with a badge and a gun.