05-07-2015, 05:52 AM
[quote TubeDude][font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000]"I will respectfully disagree with Pat on the intent and spirit of the law. Neither is written in stone as is the posted limit. Both will depend on the humane nature of the officer making the decision and if you ask 100 officers for a definition, there will certainly be more than one definition."
[#0000FF][size 3][font "Times New Roman"]That is the point I was TRYING to make but evidently did a poor job. From personal experience I can vouch that different officers will react differently to the same infraction, depending on when and where it occurred and especially on the conduct and attitude of the violator. But there seldom seems to be any leeway at Mantua (rhymes). No matter what the violation you get the ticket. No warnings. No polite explanations.[/font][/size][/#0000FF]
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I think the biggest issue at play here is just how important these citations are for the towns local economy, and for this guys paycheck. There does seem to be a conflict of interest here, with him being the Mayor of the town.... When you have a town being funded largely by citations, there is a problem there. There is too much incentive to ticket anyone and everyone for just about anything. (and like you suggest, there is no money in warnings.... hence there are no warnings).
The Wyoming Highway Patrol used to have monthly ticket quotas they had to hit (for raising money basically, it is the only reason to have a quota). This went on for decades but they finally got rid of it. When your officers are ONLY focused on getting a certain amount of tickets...they ignore other aspects of their job. They end up putting the quota off until the end and then they are solely focused on that aspect of the law.... they ignore other regulations and laws they are supposed to be enforcing...
Seems to me like you could certainly make the case that the Mantua PD are too focused on speeders. There are other important roles for police officers and I suspect these guys are more worried about revenue than anything else.
And at the end of the day there is certainly a difference between the letter of the law and the intent of the law. Busting someone for going 2mph over in a 20mph zone... is absurd. Speeding laws are there to protect the public from dangerous accidents... You really expect me to believe accidents are much more prone at 22mph compared to 20mph? I certainly understand citing people for going 10-15mph over.... there is no reason to get people for going 2-3 mph over. There just isn't.
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[#0000FF][size 3][font "Times New Roman"]That is the point I was TRYING to make but evidently did a poor job. From personal experience I can vouch that different officers will react differently to the same infraction, depending on when and where it occurred and especially on the conduct and attitude of the violator. But there seldom seems to be any leeway at Mantua (rhymes). No matter what the violation you get the ticket. No warnings. No polite explanations.[/font][/size][/#0000FF]
[/#800000][/font][/quote]
I think the biggest issue at play here is just how important these citations are for the towns local economy, and for this guys paycheck. There does seem to be a conflict of interest here, with him being the Mayor of the town.... When you have a town being funded largely by citations, there is a problem there. There is too much incentive to ticket anyone and everyone for just about anything. (and like you suggest, there is no money in warnings.... hence there are no warnings).
The Wyoming Highway Patrol used to have monthly ticket quotas they had to hit (for raising money basically, it is the only reason to have a quota). This went on for decades but they finally got rid of it. When your officers are ONLY focused on getting a certain amount of tickets...they ignore other aspects of their job. They end up putting the quota off until the end and then they are solely focused on that aspect of the law.... they ignore other regulations and laws they are supposed to be enforcing...
Seems to me like you could certainly make the case that the Mantua PD are too focused on speeders. There are other important roles for police officers and I suspect these guys are more worried about revenue than anything else.
And at the end of the day there is certainly a difference between the letter of the law and the intent of the law. Busting someone for going 2mph over in a 20mph zone... is absurd. Speeding laws are there to protect the public from dangerous accidents... You really expect me to believe accidents are much more prone at 22mph compared to 20mph? I certainly understand citing people for going 10-15mph over.... there is no reason to get people for going 2-3 mph over. There just isn't.
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