CT State Police Challenge

w_i_n_d_y

http://www.wtnh.com/dpp/news/new_haven_cty/troopers-union-angry-at-ticket-blitz-order

A CT State Police Lt. challenged his troopers to write 350 motor vehicle tickets in a 24 hour period starting this evening at 12:01.

The spokesman for the State Police said this "this is not a joke or a game....It's a troop commanders' attempt to stimulate his personnel to enhance highway safety and this goes on all across the state. You will see enhanced enforcement as we continue along in the spring months."


Your thoughts?

fbmandy55

I hate these kind of challenges and I think they screw and discourage good drivers. For example I have never been pulled over in my life for speeding, never caused an accident, never had a ticket or a warning. Last weekend I was driving down a road about a mile long. It is 40mph the whole way execpt a 2 block strech of 25 by a speedhump. I got pulled over coming out of the 40 going 37 and was giving a $121 ticket only because the officer was working on a grant and not allowed to give warnings. I was also targeted because I was at the front of the pack, though the car in the lane next to me and following cars were going the same speed.

To say the least, as a person with a perfect record, a safe driver and general supporter of police officers, I was pissed. The only reason I got a ticket is because that officer had a quota to meet that day, not because I deserved one. :explode:

TheRoadDog

It won't have any effect on a person that is not breaking the law. Go the speed limit and don't make any illegal turns into your local doughnut shop where the Patrolmen congregate.

fbmandy55

It won't have any effect on a person that is not breaking the law. Go the speed limit and don't make any illegal turns into your local doughnut shop where the Patrolmen congregate.

That's the thing though. You don't have to be breaking the law to get pulled over. In my case, I can't make my car switch from 40 to 25 in a split second and it was obvious I was slowing down coming into the 25mph zone. The will cite you for any reason they want.. and they can.

LuckyLeprechaun

Yuck. This kind of thing furthers the mentality that the police are against us.

I understand the need for highway patrol, if they didn't exist, people would kill themselves on the road a lot more often than they do now.

But I hate driving through the places where it's become obvious that they exist only to generate revenue. See: Bishop, CA. A speeding ticket there for 5 miles over the limit is something outrageous like $400. And nobody who is driving through there lives there, so they know you won't be back to fight the ticket.

Grimmerick

Yuck. This kind of thing furthers the mentality that the police are against us.

I understand the need for highway patrol, if they didn't exist, people would kill themselves on the road a lot more often than they do now.

But I hate driving through the places where it's become obvious that they exist only to generate revenue. See: Bishop, CA. A speeding ticket there for 5 miles over the limit is something outrageous like $400. And nobody who is driving through there lives there, so they know you won't be back to fight the ticket.

Yeah if you drive down I-95 on the east coast, Emporia Va is known for it. It's funny because pretty much everyone knows not to speed through Emporia so you see an automatic reduction is speed once you cross that line.

adrian_indy

It would be an easier pill to swallow if I didn't live in Indy,and no exageration here, If I didn't see DAILY, frickin daily, off duty cops in their police cruisers doing 75 mph in a 55 on I-465

DoingItNow2012

I hate these kind of challenges and I think they screw and discourage good drivers. For example I have never been pulled over in my life for speeding, never caused an accident, never had a ticket or a warning. Last weekend I was driving down a road about a mile long. It is 40mph the whole way execpt a 2 block strech of 25 by a speedhump. I got pulled over coming out of the 40 going 37 and was giving a $121 ticket only because the officer was working on a grant and not allowed to give warnings. I was also targeted because I was at the front of the pack, though the car in the lane next to me and following cars were going the same speed.

To say the least, as a person with a perfect record, a safe driver and general supporter of police officers, I was pissed. The only reason I got a ticket is because that officer had a quota to meet that day, not because I deserved one. :explode:

Challenge it. take it to court. that's an option there right?

Bahet

If you know the reduced speed zone is coming up remove your foot from the accelerator and start slowing down. You don't need to slam on the brakes at the new speed limit sign that way.

If the police in AZ want to make some money all they'd have to do is start ticketing expired license plates. It was so ridiculous around the Phoenix area that the kids and I would make a game of it every time we went out. At $100/ticket (guessing, have no idea) they could make about $5000 in any given WalMart parking lot.

Yeah if you drive down I-95 on the east coast, Emporia Va is known for it. It's funny because pretty much everyone knows not to speed through Emporia so you see an automatic reduction is speed once you cross that line.

I did not know that. Learn something new every day huh? :laugh: We're about an hour North of there though and only been through there once on our way to FL the day before Thanksgiving. I guess it might just be a good thing that it was pouring rain so we were actually driving under the speed limit. Up here there used to be a really bad spot on 295 just North of Ft. Lee. The speed limit was 60 and passed through 3 jurisdictions within about a mile so there would be 3 cops all sitting there at any given time. They raised the limit up to 70 now but I STILL see them with someone pulled over every single time I drive that way.

fbmandy55

I hate these kind of challenges and I think they screw and discourage good drivers. For example I have never been pulled over in my life for speeding, never caused an accident, never had a ticket or a warning. Last weekend I was driving down a road about a mile long. It is 40mph the whole way execpt a 2 block strech of 25 by a speedhump. I got pulled over coming out of the 40 going 37 and was giving a $121 ticket only because the officer was working on a grant and not allowed to give warnings. I was also targeted because I was at the front of the pack, though the car in the lane next to me and following cars were going the same speed.

To say the least, as a person with a perfect record, a safe driver and general supporter of police officers, I was pissed. The only reason I got a ticket is because that officer had a quota to meet that day, not because I deserved one. :explode:

Challenge it. take it to court. that's an option there right?

Yep, I can take it to court and if the officer doesn't show up that day, I automatically win. If he does by chance show up, I am screwed! Not sure if it's worth the risk..

Azdak

I hate these kind of challenges and I think they screw and discourage good drivers. For example I have never been pulled over in my life for speeding, never caused an accident, never had a ticket or a warning. Last weekend I was driving down a road about a mile long. It is 40mph the whole way execpt a 2 block strech of 25 by a speedhump. I got pulled over coming out of the 40 going 37 and was giving a $121 ticket only because the officer was working on a grant and not allowed to give warnings. I was also targeted because I was at the front of the pack, though the car in the lane next to me and following cars were going the same speed.

To say the least, as a person with a perfect record, a safe driver and general supporter of police officers, I was pissed. The only reason I got a ticket is because that officer had a quota to meet that day, not because I deserved one. :explode:

Challenge it. take it to court. that's an option there right?

Yep, I can take it to court and if the officer doesn't show up that day, I automatically win. If he does by chance show up, I am screwed! Not sure if it's worth the risk..

Going to court is usually not an option. The rules are rigged in favor of the police. If you hire a lawyer and win, you still lose because you have to pay the lawyer. If you don't have a lawyer, you just lose--and they take it out on you for daring to question the authorities.

Even worse are the surveillance cameras.

The obvious intent of all of these schemes is revenue enhancement, not safety. Nailing someone for not waiting 5 seconds before turning right on red at an intersection at 3 in the morning does not in any way enhance public safety

It just undermines peoples' faith in the honesty and integrity of the police and government.

fbmandy55

I hate these kind of challenges and I think they screw and discourage good drivers. For example I have never been pulled over in my life for speeding, never caused an accident, never had a ticket or a warning. Last weekend I was driving down a road about a mile long. It is 40mph the whole way execpt a 2 block strech of 25 by a speedhump. I got pulled over coming out of the 40 going 37 and was giving a $121 ticket only because the officer was working on a grant and not allowed to give warnings. I was also targeted because I was at the front of the pack, though the car in the lane next to me and following cars were going the same speed.

To say the least, as a person with a perfect record, a safe driver and general supporter of police officers, I was pissed. The only reason I got a ticket is because that officer had a quota to meet that day, not because I deserved one. :explode:

Challenge it. take it to court. that's an option there right?

Yep, I can take it to court and if the officer doesn't show up that day, I automatically win. If he does by chance show up, I am screwed! Not sure if it's worth the risk..

Going to court is usually not an option. The rules are rigged in favor of the police. If you hire a lawyer and win, you still lose because you have to pay the lawyer. If you don't have a lawyer, you just lose--and they take it out on you for daring to question the authorities.

Exactly.

LuckyLeprechaun

I hate these kind of challenges and I think they screw and discourage good drivers. For example I have never been pulled over in my life for speeding, never caused an accident, never had a ticket or a warning. Last weekend I was driving down a road about a mile long. It is 40mph the whole way execpt a 2 block strech of 25 by a speedhump. I got pulled over coming out of the 40 going 37 and was giving a $121 ticket only because the officer was working on a grant and not allowed to give warnings. I was also targeted because I was at the front of the pack, though the car in the lane next to me and following cars were going the same speed.

To say the least, as a person with a perfect record, a safe driver and general supporter of police officers, I was pissed. The only reason I got a ticket is because that officer had a quota to meet that day, not because I deserved one. :explode:

Challenge it. take it to court. that's an option there right?

Yep, I can take it to court and if the officer doesn't show up that day, I automatically win. If he does by chance show up, I am screwed! Not sure if it's worth the risk..

Going to court is usually not an option. The rules are rigged in favor of the police. If you hire a lawyer and win, you still lose because you have to pay the lawyer. If you don't have a lawyer, you just lose--and they take it out on you for daring to question the authorities.

you don't need a lawyer to go in and plead not guilty.
they often reduce the fine and offer you a smaller charge just because you showed up
when they realize you plan to plead not guilty, they may dismiss altogether.

It's always worth showing up, in both California and Nevada I have had huge success in traffic court. Never give in! Never just pay the fine!!!

fbmandy55

I hate these kind of challenges and I think they screw and discourage good drivers. For example I have never been pulled over in my life for speeding, never caused an accident, never had a ticket or a warning. Last weekend I was driving down a road about a mile long. It is 40mph the whole way execpt a 2 block strech of 25 by a speedhump. I got pulled over coming out of the 40 going 37 and was giving a $121 ticket only because the officer was working on a grant and not allowed to give warnings. I was also targeted because I was at the front of the pack, though the car in the lane next to me and following cars were going the same speed.

To say the least, as a person with a perfect record, a safe driver and general supporter of police officers, I was pissed. The only reason I got a ticket is because that officer had a quota to meet that day, not because I deserved one. :explode:

Challenge it. take it to court. that's an option there right?

Yep, I can take it to court and if the officer doesn't show up that day, I automatically win. If he does by chance show up, I am screwed! Not sure if it's worth the risk..

Going to court is usually not an option. The rules are rigged in favor of the police. If you hire a lawyer and win, you still lose because you have to pay the lawyer. If you don't have a lawyer, you just lose--and they take it out on you for daring to question the authorities.

you don't need a lawyer to go in and plead not guilty.
they often reduce the fine and offer you a smaller charge just because you showed up
when they realize you plan to plead not guilty, they may dismiss altogether.

It's always worth showing up, in both California and Nevada I have had huge success in traffic court. Never give in! Never just pay the fine!!!

It's not that easy in Indiana. The courts here, and on the county level especially are corrupt beyond belief. The benefit of paying the fine and this being my first ticket, I can get a deferment that it will not go on my record as long as I don't get pulled over again within 6 months.

Grimmerick

another thought is that it's not worth missing a day of work, the reduced fine ends up costing you if you have to miss work, to show up at court, and you got the ticket in another area that's a whole other headache. But if I think it's unfair enough or if it pisses me off enough I will show up on principle alone lol screw the money

w_i_n_d_y

My fear is what happens when the troopers aren't near their quota...I wonder how many tickets for 5 miles over the speed limit there will be and other lame charges.

I think that they should publish in the newspaper what the 350 tickets were issued for, obivously keeping the names hidden. I want to see how legitimate they really are.

KimmyEB

It would be an easier pill to swallow if I didn't live in Indy,and no exageration here, If I didn't see DAILY, frickin daily, off duty cops in their police cruisers doing 75 mph in a 55 on I-465

Here as well.

I live on a 30mph street, and we regularly have a police car that puts his lights and siren on until he gets to the stop sign at the end of the road, turns his lights and siren off, doesn't come to a complete stop at said stop sign, then turns. Just so he doesn't have to go 30mph like the rest of us. The first time I saw it, I was behind him and figured he had legit cause for it. Turns out, he regularly does this. I've stood in my yard getting my mail and I've seen him do this or happened to be outside and witnessed this many times.

I was also stuck behind an officer in a turn lane, waiting to make a left-hand turn...there were plenty of open opportunities for him to make the turn, and he's just holding up traffic sitting there. Turns out, he was playing on Facebook on a laptop in his car. He FINALLY went, and instead of making a left-hand turn, he made a u-turn in a no u-turn area.

Lots of off-duty cops in their chargers will literally ride up WAY too close to any vehicle doing the speed limit in one particularly busy neighborhood....and if they just can't take going the speed limit anymore, they'll throw that siren on, 'til they get to the exit of the neighborhood, or they'll dangerously pass you...no blinkers, in a no-passing zone, almost hitting anyone else that comes close on the other side.

Also, no police officer in my area seems to know what a turn signal is anymore. Or a red light.

I hate to sound negative and stereotype the officers in my area, but I don't think I've seen a decent driving police officer in my area in years.

/rant.