Crackdown on Drivers to Solve Budget Woes

[dazzleman]

I've been expecting this for a while.  The political class will do anything to tighten their grip on our money.
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http://autos.aol.com/article/police-usa-traffic-ticket-quotas-budgets/?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl8%7Csec1_lnk2%26pLid%3D370709



Police Across USA Charged With Traffic Ticket Quotas To Meet Budgets

Georgia, Alabama, New York and Michigan police all facing quota investigations

Posted: Sep 06, 2013
  |  By: AOL Autos Staff


If the Atlanta police department wants to make sure their future pay raises come in, they had better write more tickets and make sure they show up in court to defend them, says a report from Channel 2 Action News in the Georgia capitol.

The TV news team obtained an email sent from the police union chief Ken Allen to his members in the Atlanta Police Department explaining that future raises will be funded through ticket revenue based on the most recent city budget.

It may be the first time a major city overtly spelled out the connection between traffic ticket revenue and police salary and raises, and it raises questions that the southern city is instituting an official quota system.

"The mayor has designated traffic court/ticket revenue for future pay increases ... (This is) the first time ever that a revenue stream has been designated to salaries," Allen told officers in the email, according to Channel 2. "Future pay increases are in our hands. We need only enforce traffic violations as we are now, but increase our attendance in court to prevent cases being dismissed."

A representative for the mayor's office told Channel 2 that the city is simply trying to improve how the police department engages in traffic court, "especially regarding operations and the collections process." But, the spokesman told Channel 2, "There is no push to increase revenues through the writing of additional tickets."

An Atlanta Police Department representative told Channel 2 the department has not issued any official directive for officers to write more tickets, nor informed them that ticket writing is directly tied to their compensation.

But it appears to be semantics. If police know their raises are tied to ticket revenue, they will not only be inclined to do a better job of showing up and defending the tickets they write in traffic court, they are also incentivized to write more tickets.

As city's cope with tightening budgets, "unofficial" ticket writing quotas have been uncovered in the last year, with line officers, many of whom object to the practice, caught in the middle.

In Bethel Heights, Ark., last month, Officer Timothy Brasuell recorded his police chief pushing him to manufacture reasons to make more traffic stops and get his ticket numbers up. Brasuell, reported NBC TV affiliate KNWA, played the recording for the county prosecutor and mayor who dismissed the officer's concerns "as an internal matter."

In Staten Island, NY, three police officers were charged in 2012 with writing phony tickets to meet unofficial quotas they claimed were forced on them by superiors. Officer Paul Pizzuto, who was dismissed and lost his pension, made the claim that bosses threatened to transfer him if he didn't keep up a quota of 150 tickets per month. Pizzuto was caught submitting bogus summonses of people he had previously ticketed, and even people who were dead.

In Auburn, Ala., earlier this year, a police officer was fired for allegedly going against a ticket quota policy dictated by superiors to raise extra revenue for the city. Officer Justin Hanners charged that his commanding officer told him and his fellow officers they had to write at least 100 tickets per month, according to The Opelika-Auburn News. Cops who wrote the most tickets, Hanners charged in court papers, were rewarded with gift certificates for steak dinners and other goodies. Those who fell short, he charged, were threatened with job loss or mandatory over-time on holidays and other undesirable days.

In Novi, Mich., Officer Michael Corbett, a 25-year veteran of the police force, is suing the department, charging he was forced into early retirement for pushing back on a policy of ticket quotas for cops, according to The Oakland Press.

Police officers in East Orange, N.J., have complained to a city council member that they are being harassed by superiors to fill ticket quotas. Councilwoman Alicia Holman earlier this year called for an investigation into what she says is the harassment of citizens and the intimidation of officers. "Our officers are being threatened, disciplined, or brought up on charges for neglect of duty," she said in April, according to NJ.com. An investigation is ongoing.

Civil liberty experts are siding with cops going against their department practices or unofficial policies as traffic tickets are meant to be a deterrent to illegal behavior, not a designated source of revenue for city or police budgets.

Arkansas police officer Brasuell told KNWA, "The message that he [his police chief] was giving me was do whatever it takes to get the tickets even if you have to make somebody do something wrong."

"Every time I hear it, I get nauseous."

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Filed under: Driving Laws

[hotrodalex]

At least in KY, ticket quotas are useless to police. They get like 2% of the fine. The rest of it goes to the capital or the courts.

[bing_oh]

At least in KY, ticket quotas are useless to police. They get like 2% of the fine. The rest of it goes to the capital or the courts.

Pretty much the same here. We get only a fraction of the fines for tickets. Most of the money goes to the court and the state. Some smaller communities use Mayor's Courts to get a bigger chunk of the pie, though.

[MX793]

At least in KY, ticket quotas are useless to police. They get like 2% of the fine. The rest of it goes to the capital or the courts.

Useless for local-level police forces, but State Police can benefit from increased revenue at the state level.

[TurboDan]

Pretty much the same here. We get only a fraction of the fines for tickets. Most of the money goes to the court and the state. Some smaller communities use Mayor's Courts to get a bigger chunk of the pie, though.

In New Jersey, moving violations go 30% to the municipality, 70% to the state. Non-movers and ordinance violations go 100% to the municipality. So if you're pulled over in New Jersey, and you don't act like a dick, and it's a municipal police department, it's nearly guaranteed you'll get a "break" from the mover and be slapped with a seatbelt ticket, "obstruction of view," or a bogus parking violation instead of a speeding ticket (or whatever offense you actually committed). The non movers, in NJ, are usually $54, far less than would motivate most people to ever contest them in court.

[TurboDan]

Useless for local-level police forces, but State Police can benefit from increased revenue at the state level.

State police agencies in most states are totally and completely money-losing operations. New Jersey practically went bankrupt over the salaries, benefits, pensions and health insurance for decades of state troopers. Ticket revenue does next to nothing to make up the deficit. Law enforcement, especially good law enforcement, is not cheap. Trying to recoup the cost through tickets, especially on a statewide level, is just silly and a poor use of resources.

[NomisR]

State police agencies in most states are totally and completely money-losing operations. New Jersey practically went bankrupt over the salaries, benefits, pensions and health insurance for decades of state troopers. Ticket revenue does next to nothing to make up the deficit. Law enforcement, especially good law enforcement, is not cheap. Trying to recoup the cost through tickets, especially on a statewide level, is just silly and a poor use of resources.

Wait.. I thought law enforcement is suppose to be money losing operations to begin with... if it's a revenue generating operation.. something has gone extremely wrong...

[rohan]

Quotas in Michigan were deemed un-Constitutional decades ago.  Police agencies can have contact ratios where they require for every so many hours of free patrol time officers have to have XX number of citizen contacts- but they can't require tickets.  If this was the case in Novi the union would be fighting this- notice it's not.  (hint hint)

Wait.. I thought law enforcement is suppose to be money losing operations to begin with... if it's a revenue generating operation.. something has gone extremely wrong...

Exactly. 

Talking about ticket revenues- in Michigan municipal police agencies only get 1/3 of 10% ticket FINES- which are generally about $40 of the total ticket.   County sheriff depts get half of the 10% of fines on tickets they write and 1/3 of the 10% on tickets by other agencies in their county.  MSP gets 100% of the 10% on tickets they write and 1/2 of the 10% on tickets county sheriff departments write and 1/3 of the 10% on tickets municipal agencies write.  The only way that changes is if an angency- county or municipal (state can't do this)- has their own traffic court with their own magistrate they hire and pay for- then they get 100% of all fines on a ticket- which still amount to about $40 on a regular traffic ticket.

Now- if you are talking misdemeanor tickets the percentages remain the same but the fines skyrocket.  Right now suspended license tickets for example the fines alone are about $120 bucks- so you'd get your percentage of that.  OWI tickets- depending on if it's a 1st 2nd or 3rd offense- start with fines of about $150 and go as high as $700 and you'd get your percentage of that.

When it's all said and done most agencies lose money on tickets- but that's not supposed to be the point of writing them in the first place.

Of course the State of Michigan and the MSP makes a HUGE amount of money off traffic tickets.  We now have the Driver's Responsibility Fees which go up exponentially each year for 3-5 years depending on the ticket you get.  In my opinion it's a double jeopardy violation and is unconstitutional.  But so far the court hasn't had the balls to strike it down because it generates about $108,000,000 in 2012.  (which that number is down from pervious years) 

http://www.annarbor.com/news/crime/michigan-secretary-of-state-office-is-making-a-new-class-of-criminal/
http://www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/index.ssf/2013/02/michigans_driver_responsibilit.html

[dazzleman]

In New Jersey, moving violations go 30% to the municipality, 70% to the state. Non-movers and ordinance violations go 100% to the municipality. So if you're pulled over in New Jersey, and you don't act like a dick, and it's a municipal police department, it's nearly guaranteed you'll get a "break" from the mover and be slapped with a seatbelt ticket, "obstruction of view," or a bogus parking violation instead of a speeding ticket (or whatever offense you actually committed). The non movers, in NJ, are usually $54, far less than would motivate most people to ever contest them in court.

What a corrupt state you live in.... (not that mine is much better).

[dazzleman]

Quotas in Michigan were deemed un-Constitutional decades ago.  Police agencies can have contact ratios where they require for every so many hours of free patrol time officers have to have XX number of citizen contacts- but they can't require tickets.  If this was the case in Novi the union would be fighting this- notice it's not.  (hint hint)
Exactly. 

Talking about ticket revenues- in Michigan municipal police agencies only get 1/3 of 10% ticket FINES- which are generally about $40 of the total ticket.   County sheriff depts get half of the 10% of fines on tickets they write and 1/3 of the 10% on tickets by other agencies in their county.  MSP gets 100% of the 10% on tickets they write and 1/2 of the 10% on tickets county sheriff departments write and 1/3 of the 10% on tickets municipal agencies write.  The only way that changes is if an angency- county or municipal (state can't do this)- has their own traffic court with their own magistrate they hire and pay for- then they get 100% of all fines on a ticket- which still amount to about $40 on a regular traffic ticket.

Now- if you are talking misdemeanor tickets the percentages remain the same but the fines skyrocket.  Right now suspended license tickets for example the fines alone are about $120 bucks- so you'd get your percentage of that.  OWI tickets- depending on if it's a 1st 2nd or 3rd offense- start with fines of about $150 and go as high as $700 and you'd get your percentage of that.

When it's all said and done most agencies lose money on tickets- but that's not supposed to be the point of writing them in the first place.

Of course the State of Michigan and the MSP makes a HUGE amount of money off traffic tickets.  We now have the Driver's Responsibility Fees which go up exponentially each year for 3-5 years depending on the ticket you get.  In my opinion it's a double jeopardy violation and is unconstitutional.  But so far the court hasn't had the balls to strike it down because it generates about $108,000,000 in 2012.  (which that number is down from pervious years) 

http://www.annarbor.com/news/crime/michigan-secretary-of-state-office-is-making-a-new-class-of-criminal/
http://www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/index.ssf/2013/02/michigans_driver_responsibilit.html

New York has Driver Responsibility Fees also, even for out of state drivers.  They start to kick in when you have at least 6 points on your license (not sure over what period -- I think 3 years).

A buddy of mine got a 6 point speeding ticket in New York (that's 21-30 mph over the speed limit).  He paid a hefty fine and thought he was finished, and then some time later, he got another bill from the state for the Driver Responsibility Fee.  And his license and residence are in Connecticut.

When I got pulled over for going 79 mph in a 55 mph zone back in May, I'd have gotten hit with that too if the trooper hadn't been a cool guy and written my speed down to 65 mph, thereby making it only a 3 point rather than a 6 point ticket.  To avoid it, I'd have had to go to court and fight to knock the ticket down.  I probably would have gone to court if the trooper hadn't knocked it down for me.  Sometimes it pays to be friendly and polite, and not accuse the trooper of lying when he tells you the speed he clocked you at and you know he's right.

[TurboDan]

What a corrupt state you live in.... (not that mine is much better).

Absolutely. But as a recipient of a few of those lame $54 tickets instead of the $200 speeding tickets, I'd say the corruption kinda worked in my favor a couple times.

[dazzleman]

Absolutely. But as a recipient of a few of those lame $54 tickets instead of the $200 speeding tickets, I'd say the corruption kinda worked in my favor a couple times.

That's the problem with corruption.  The benefits are tangible and immediate, while the price of it is more ambiguous and amorphous.

Not to criticize you either.  I've benefitted in my own way, when the speed on my recent speeding ticket was marked down from 79 mph to 65 mph.  Apparently, the "unofficial" speed limit is 15 mph over the posted one, so since the officer seemed to like me, he took almost 15 mph off my actual speed.  I'm not complaining about it on the one hand, but on the other hand, the whole thing is a bit of a sham.  The laws don't mean what they say, and the markdown in the speed made it much more likely that I would simply pay the ticket (and produce revenue for the town/state) rather than go to court and fight it.

[J86]

New York has Driver Responsibility Fees also, even for out of state drivers.  They start to kick in when you have at least 6 points on your license (not sure over what period -- I think 3 years).

A buddy of mine got a 6 point speeding ticket in New York (that's 21-30 mph over the speed limit).  He paid a hefty fine and thought he was finished, and then some time later, he got another bill from the state for the Driver Responsibility Fee.  And his license and residence are in Connecticut.

When I got pulled over for going 79 mph in a 55 mph zone back in May, I'd have gotten hit with that too if the trooper hadn't been a cool guy and written my speed down to 65 mph, thereby making it only a 3 point rather than a 6 point ticket.  To avoid it, I'd have had to go to court and fight to knock the ticket down.  I probably would have gone to court if the trooper hadn't knocked it down for me.  Sometimes it pays to be friendly and polite, and not accuse the trooper of lying when he tells you the speed he clocked you at and you know he's right.

I was a big contributor to the NYS coffers due to the Driver Responsibility Assessment while in college!

[dazzleman]

I was a big contributor to the NYS coffers due to the Driver Responsibility Assessment while in college!

How much per year?  How many years?   I like your scofflaw attitude..

I'd have gotten hit with that too if the cop hadn't marked down my speed and I had pled guilty.   It would have been a 6-point ticket.

A buddy of mine from the train got hit with it too.  He got a 6-point ticket,  paid a hefty fine, and thought it was over with.  Later he got one of those bills.  He had no idea it was coming.

[J86]

I can't remember precisely, but I think it was something to the tune of $100/year for 3 years.

[J86]

On top of whatever the tickets were.

[dazzleman]

On top of whatever the tickets were.

$100 a year is nothing.  I think it was well worth it for the enjoyment you got from your persistent speeding...

[J86]

Not on a college budget, it wasn't nothing!

[J86]

I spent over a third of the purchase price of my car at the time on speeding tickets

[dazzleman]

I spent over a third of the purchase price of my car at the time on speeding tickets

That's what I call having the right priorities! 

Seriously,  we all make our choices.  Clearly the speeding was worth it to you because you kept doing it.  I'd make the same choice.

[J86]

Not sure if it was an active choice or just basic stupidity.  Considering I put my Honda into a guardrail going backwards at 50 mph once, probably the latter!

[dazzleman]

Not sure if it was an active choice or just basic stupidity.  Considering I put my Honda into a guardrail going backwards at 50 mph once, probably the latter!

WTF man, that sounds scary.  Basic stupidity is an active choice!

[J86]

Yeah, well, we're all young and dumb once.  Some of us are just dumber than others.

[dazzleman]

Yeah, well, we're all young and dumb once.  Some of us are just dumber than others.

That's true.  Glad you weren't hurt.

Funny how many guys have grown up on C&D/Carspin.  I remember when you got arrested for underage alcohol possession and looking for help from Greg.