NYC Police Department Caught Imposing Traffic Ticket Quotas

A police memo published by the Daily News shows unequivocal evidence that the New York City Police Department uses traffic ticket quotas.  This memo was reportedly posted in the roll call room of the 77th precinct and advised officers how many traffic tickets and the type required.

Interestingly, cell phones tickets and seat belt tickets were, by far, the largest portion of the quota.  Neither of these tickets carry points and present a much lower safety hazard than, for example, disobeying a red light or speeding.

This is not the first time that the NYPD has been caught imposing quotes.  Earlier this year, a whistleblower cop recorded a supervisor in the 81st Precinct vowing to go after officers who don’t make at least one arrest a month.

State law prohibits police from using quotas – or setting a target number for arrests or summonses during a specific time frame.  The practice is illegal because it places pressure on police officers to issue traffic tickets (even when a violation may not have occurred) and removes their discretion.  The NYPD has denied this practice for years despite evidence to the contrary.

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Legal For Your Car To Be Sniffed

New York state’s highest court recently ruled in two separate cases that police may use drug-detecting dogs to sniff a car stopped for a routine traffic ticket.  The court was sharply divided (4-3) and the majority qualified its decision by restricting it to circumstances where the police officer suspects other criminal activity.

For civil libertarians, this is a troubling decision.  In one case, the driver was pulled over for talking on a cell phone without a hands-free device and was unable to produce a license or registration. It seems a stretch that such conduct would warrant such an invasive search.  Indeed, none of these charges is a crime, just a violation.

In the second case, an SUV was pulled over for failing to have a front plate, the driver was “fidgety” and his passenger told an “implausible” story about where they were going.  Again, a missing front plate is not criminal so the decision is curious.

The three dissenting judges wrote that a “reasonable suspicion” that the vehicle contained drugs should be required before bringing in a canine.

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Cities Sandbagging Motorists

Car & Driver.com reports that some municipalities have kept their speed limits artificially low so as to make it easier for its officers to issue speeding tickets.

The article entitled “Feeding The Machine: Sandbagging On Speed Limits” explains that, under Michigan law, there are certain formulas for determining state limits.  The formulas are based on average speeds traveled, and the number of intersections and driveways along the stretch of a given roadway.  The article’s author George Hunter writes:

Since Congress repealed a national speed-limit law in 1995, states have been increasing limits. So, while state legislatures are voting to up speed limits, local municipalities are reluctant to follow, experts say, because they don’t want to lose the revenue that speeding tickets provide.

Motorists with speeding tickets issued in illegally low speed zones are able to get their tickets dismissed despite the fact that they were speeding.  Of course, most motorists don’t know the law and end up paying these tickets.

It is despicable that these cities would ignore state law in order to generate “illegal” revenue.  Motorists end up paying fines and blemishing their driving records where they otherwise would be driving at a safe speed.

In New York City, the maximum speed limit on highways is only 50 mph.  This 5 mph differential from the standard 55 mph highway speed limit often “trips up” motorists who think they are driving within the limit.  While signs are posted, it is particularly effective on motorists who don’t often drive in New York City.  Unfortunately, New York’s Legislature has not imposed a law similar to that in Michigan.

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Officer Drops Aggravated Unlicensed Ticket In Exchange For Three Pizza Pies

Police officers are often the butt of doughnut jokes but one Gowanda village police officer prefers pizza instead.  The Erie County District Attorney charges that former cop Jason Miller dismissed an aggravated unlicensed traffic ticket (a misdemeanor for driving when you know or should know you are suspended) in exchange for a “bribe” of three pizzas.

The story got even more bizarre when the officer, then, tried to fake his own shooting by hanging his bullet-proof vest on a tree and shooting it twice.  Miller has pled guilty to official misconduct and can be sentenced to up to a one year.

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Motorist Gets Last Laugh On Officer

Two years later, I still think this is really funny.  The motorist getting stopped for a traffic ticket but the tables quickly turn.

We recently re-edited the video to shortened its length.  Enjoy.

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New Reckless Driving Ticket Imposes Automatic Suspension

NYC Reckless Driving Ticket

Legislators in Albany are close to passing Elle’s Law, a law designed to create a new type of reckless driving ticket by punishing those who recklessly drive and injure pedestrians.

Named after Elle Vandenberghe, a toddler, who was seriously injured by a motorist who was unsafely backing in Manhattan the wrong way on a one-way street.

If enacted, the law would impose an automatic 6-month suspension upon any driver who seriously injures a pedestrian while driving recklessly. The suspension would increase to a year for a second offense within 5 years of one another.

Currently, a motorist convicted of reckless driving ticket is considered a criminal because reckless driving is a misdemeanor.  Also, if convicted of this charge, a motorist gets 5 points added to his or her New York driver’s license.  Under the new law, these items remain the same.

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New Type Of Speeding Ticket Camera?

The below photo shows a speeding ticket camera which doesn’t fool around.  It gives a new meaning to “strict” speed enforcement.

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The 10 Worst Places To Speed

The maximum speed limits within the United States vary from state-to-state.  See map on left.  The number of speeding tickets issued in each state also varies.  Driverside.com, a car owner website, recently researched the worst states to speed.  Specifically, they looked at the number of speeding tickets issued based on population.  The results are below.

Surprisingly, New York is not on the list with many smaller population states making it instead.

1. The number one speeding ticket states is actually not a state.  The nation’s capital is the runaway traffic ticket champion with an 434,301 traffic tickets being issued to its 553,523 residents, meaning that a whopping 78.5% of the District of Columbia population received at least one traffic violation!
2. Wyoming has a population of 506,529 people and issued 46,366 moving violations.  That’s about 9.2% of its population.
3. Similarly, Vermont has a population of only 631,394 residents but issued 52,269 traffic violations representing 8.4% of its population.
4. North Dakota has a per capita ticket percentage of 7.2% (population 634,366 and 45,510 traffic tickets issued).
5. Mississippi has 2,902,966 residents and its police force hands out 197,434 tickets for a 6.8% percent of the population.
6. Maryland issued 6.3% of its population with 349,921 traffic tickets being issued in this state of 5,558,058.
7. New Mexico’s 1,903,289 residents were issued 117,303 speeding violations (6.1%) despite its 75 mph highway speed limit.
8. South Carolina has a population of 4,198,068 which were issued a total of 228,363 speeding tickets (5.4%).
9. Delaware has the smallest population of the states on the list with a 5.36% figure.  Its 830,364 residents received 44,551 tickets.
10. The final state to make the list is the largest in population.  The Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ 6,416,505 residents received 337,103 tickets last year (5.25%).

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Satelites To Be Used To Issue Speeding Tickets

According to the English newspaper The Telegraph, PIPS Technology, a US company, has developed a system called “SppedSpike” that can be used to catch speeding motorists.

The system uses 2 terrestrial cameras and one satellite camera orbiting in space. Triangulating the three cameras, SpeedSpike determines a motorist’s average speed between two pre-measured points, photographs its license plate and, if you are speeding, will result in a speeding camera ticket be issued to you.  Inclement weather does not affect the system.

The system will be tested soon in two areas and, if successful, will be rolled out throughout the United Kingdom.

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Nassau County Aggressive Driver Crackdown In Effect

From now through May 9th, Nassau County will have extra police officers out on the road enforcing traffic laws such as speeding, unsafe lane changes and failure to yield the right of way.  Be extra cautious to avoid being snared.

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