by admin — published on February 11th, 2008
Raleigh, NC — The state Highway Patrol is again facing questions about one of its members’ judgment.
Over the weekend, a trooper chose not to issue a speeding ticket to a fellow law enforcement officer, an off-duty Durham policeman. After a review, the patrol has found that the off-duty officer was going nearly twice the posted speed limit.
A ticket was issued Tuesday night. Wednesday, though, at least one lawmaker was questioning the agency’s actions.
Trooper David Smith clocked off-duty Durham police officer Anthony Harris going 84 mph in a 45 mph zone at about 7 p.m. Saturday on Junction Road near Club Boulevard. Smith stopped Harris but did not write a ticket.
Smith also decided that while he could smell alcohol on Harris’ breath, Harris had passed field-sobriety tests and was not impaired, officials have said.
Former police officer Jon Blum told WRAL that it is not unusual to see that sort of conduct.
“I think it’s common practice that officers use discretion anytime they stop someone in a car, including another law enforcement officer,” Blum said.
It wasn’t until the news media questioned the Highway Patrol that Harris got a ticket.
The decision followed a string of high-profile incidents involving state troopers.
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by admin — published on February 8th, 2008
Linwood truck driver Steven Paul Kane has got off a speeding ticket where the police flubbed the paperwork. But he had to take his case all the way to the High Court before Justice Christine French quashed the conviction.
Mr. Kane represented himself among the oil portraits and spectacular woodwork of Christchurch’s No. 1 High Courtroom. The crown said the fault was a technicality, but Justice French said it meant the infringement was not served on Mr Kane.
On September 23, 2006, he was driving his truck on State Highway 1 south of Waimate when he was clocked at 111kmh by a police officer with a Stalker radar.
The 40-year-old relief driver was given a ticket, but when the police sent him the notice they got his name muddled. An envelope arrived at his home addressed to K.S.Paul and he did not open it, and sent it back marked “return to sender”. Eventually, he received a reminder, correctly addressed to him.
There were lengthy delays, but eventually the case was heard in front of Justices of the Peace and a fine of $170 plus costs of $30 were imposed.
The law says that where an infringement notice is being served by post, it must be sent addressed to the person who committed the offence, and it must be served within six months.
“In this case,” said Justice French, “the notice wasn’t addressed to Mr Kane but to Mr Paul. It follows that it wasn’t addressed to the person who appears to have committed the infringement offence.
“The crown says he is relying on a technicality. Technicality or not, it’s clear that service did not comply with section 139 (of the Act).
“It follows that the conviction cannot stand. The appeal is allowed. The conviction is quashed.”
source: Courtnews.co.nz
by admin — published on February 5th, 2008
North Texas constables are focusing on issuing traffic tickets even though their primary duty is to serve arrest warrants.
County constables in North Texas are ignoring their primary warrant serving responsibilities in order to issue speeding tickets. In Dallas County, constables have issued $49 million worth of citations even though 92,000 arrest warrants await service. Dallas County Constable Mike Dupree‘s precinct issues an average of 1700 traffic citations per month. His jurisdiction has 24,000 unserved warrants.Texas law establishes that constables have all the powers of a peace officer, but their sole duty is to issue warrants. “A constable shall execute and return as provided by law each process, warrant, and precept that is directed to the constable….” (Texas Code, Section 86.021)
In the late 1990s, DeSoto passed a resolution asking the Dallas County constables to stop running speed traps in the city. Constables have flouted the city council’s wishes and continue to ticket residents. Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price told investigators with KTVT-TV that he preferred having constables issue tickets because there isn’t enough space in jail for those with a warrant out for their arrest.
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by admin — published on February 2nd, 2008
Pennsylvania State Police turn to disguises to entrap motorists in Somerset County.
Pennsylvania State Police troopers are turning to disguises to ensnare motorists in Somerset County. Sergeant John Rock poses as a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation worker on Route 30 with a shovel in one hand and a radar gun in the other. Near Jennerstown, Rock and Trooper Loni Nist posed as a cowboy and cowgirl taking photos on a roadside while a marked police car hid, ready to pull over passing motorists. Last month, the two posed as a trooper couple stranded by a disabled SUV. Five police cruisers hid nearby to issue multiple speeding tickets.
“We’ve got a whole bunch of things up our sleeve,” Rock told the Tribune-Democrat newspaper with a laugh.
The disguises help troopers achieve quotas designed to increase the amount of revenue generated by police enforcement efforts. Rock has plans to expand the program, dubbed “Operation Sunset,” to cover even more roads in the area.
Source: (Tribune Democrat (Johnstown, PA), 3/18/2006)
by admin — published on January 31st, 2008
Pennsylvania State Troopers receive monetary bounty for writing additional traffic tickets and are punished for speaking out against the system.
Pennsylvania State Police documents show that not only is there a system of monetary reward and punishment for state troopers based upon numeric ticket goals, there is a clear effort to prevent anyone from ever speaking about it. The first rule of a ticket quota is: there is no ticket quota.
The primary reason for the denial is a 1981 Pennsylvania law banning the practice of “directly or indirectly” suggesting that an individual police officer should issue “a certain number of traffic citations.”
In 2002, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette uncovered the creative methods that top police officials developed to avoid the letter of the law. The specific number of tickets that troopers must now meet is known as the “station average.” Each trooper must log the number of traffic stops and citations and if a trooper for any reason issues fewer tickets than his colleagues — the station average — he will be disciplined.
Our investigation shows that the practice continues and that those who issue more than the station average number of traffic tickets are given a fifty percent salary bonus in the form of construction overtime.
“If the station average is five tickets and you write ten, you’re getting overtime,” a trooper who requested anonymity explained to TheNewspaper.com. “The effect is to increase the average.”
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