Ticket quotas: I challenge anyone out there to PM me a link to a site, or direct me to where I can view a "quota", written proof, for writing tickets. But don't expect me to hold my breath waiting.
Cops are a- holes: In my many years of driving I have received my share of tickets. I have been there and thought that the cops were a-holes. Then I grew up and assumed responsibility for my actions. If you do not drive > 8 miles /hr over any speed limit, then the chances that you get pulled over are near null. When I saw some guy driving a G35 coupe like a total reckless a-hole, a year or so before I got my G, did I think that All G35 drivers were then a-holes?
Speeding: When in excess, speeding is just a matter of being unsafe, especially in heavily populated areas. Such is the case with PB, Pacific Beach for those of you not familiar with San Diego, CA. Oh and by the way, PB has one of the highest populations of pedestrians and bicyclists sharing the streets in the nation, with undivided roads and intersections every 100-200 feet. Throw in plenty of bars hence alcohol and guess what?
Speed limits: Not set by law enforcement, more like safety engineers that take traffic patterns, road configurations, sidewalks, bicycle lanes, driveways, etc into consideration when setting those limits. Cops only enforce the limits.
In the end if you get cited, you either broke the law by speeding, my money says > 8 miles over the limit, or since the officer can’t cite you for a bad attitude, he/she cited you for something else that you did that was illegal.
Contrary to the vast majority of my posts, this is not meant to be simply informative and positive. I am merely, as most here are, providing my opinion.
So stop the flipping, finger-pointing, I didn’t do it, you’re the a-hole, my dog ate it, whining.. and implement some maturity in your less that 25 yrs of experienced life.

 

understand i am in no way trying to insult any sort of police enforcement. without them we would be lost. but realistically, our enforcement system has to have some sort of quota system. this might not be in a strict sense where each cop must fulfill a certain amount of tickets each month, but more like an unspoken rule.

a standard police officer has to give an average (average as in relative to what his colleagues are giving out) or else it would look bad--what is he doing in the free time when everyone else is giving out tickets.

having some sort of "expectancy" systems keeps police officers reliable, it prevents them from taking much extended breaks. without a "quota" lazy police officers could simply just park around a corner and do nothing.

obviously, if you are breaking the law you should get the ticket, but is it really necessary for a police officer to sit behind a corner and expectantly waiting for someone to break the law? that almost seems like entrapment

 

Here are a couple of definitions of entrap(ment):

entrap

• verb (entrapped, entrapping) 1 catch in a trap. 2 (of a police officer) deceive (someone) into committing a crime in order to secure their prosecution.

— DERIVATIVES entrapment noun.

entrapment definition – entrapment is where a police officer or other law enforcement officer induces a person to commit a crime that the person wouldn’t have committed otherwise for the purpose of bringing a criminal prosecution against that person.


Sitting behind a corner waiting for someone to break the law is NOT entrapment. Not even close.

 

you dont find that a cop that is waiting for you to--in most cases where a cop is hiding behind a corner watching you do that famous "california roll"--as pretty much a trap? i mean come on now. understandably, stop signs are there for a reason, but if you slow down, are sure that it is safe, and roll thru, and a cop pulls you over because he was waiting for you to commit a harmless rolling stop, you dont find that as a at least a mild form of entrapment?

sure he is not inducing you to commit a crime, but he is just waiting for you to commit it. he is expecting you to do it. or at least someone to do it. its as if that stop sign was a trap to catch people. i know this mentality is far off from correct, bc laws are meant to be obeyed, but whats the point in being a hardass? cops who wait intentionally, are hardasses imho.

btw cru, arent you supposed to be working your night shift right now? NOT cruising the forums? maybe the should put some quotas on you correctional officers as well

 

No I don't find the situation you described as entrapment. Not even close. Is it chicken sh*t, definitely.

I'm off tonight thank you. After midnight all the inmates are locked down and I have some down time if there isn't a report to be written. That's how I am able to cruise the forums from work.

 

"having some sort of "expectancy" systems keeps police officers reliable, it prevents them from taking much extended breaks. without a "quota" lazy police officers could simply just park around a corner and do nothing"


I'll be the first to admit that I do work with what we call "slugs." But please don't assume that without quotas, Starbucks wouldn't be doing so well. Anyhow, if California had quotas, I'm sure I would never reach the pre determined amount. When I have to take 3-4 crashes on some days, and most likely one of those is a hit and run or one of the driver's is unlicensed, I would hardly consider that lazy. Most officers don't accept the job to be lazy, they take it because they want to do something about people who break the law whether it be an infraction, misdemeanor, or felony.

As far as not coming to a complete stop for a stop sign, read California Vehicle Code 22450(a) VC. It doesn't say "if you can roll across the limit line safely..." If you didn't come to a complete stop, you are in violation of that vehicle code. It may seem petty, but where does it all end. Would you rather get a ticket for it or hit a pedestrian or another car before you stop rolling through a stop sign. Not coming to a complete stop behind the limit line is also a primary collision factor. If we can get people to stop rolling through stop signs through enforcement, then we can hopefully reduce motor vehicle collisions which in turn will (PLEASE DEAR GOD!) reduce insurance rates.

I don't mean to pick on the stop sign violation, I'm just using it as an example. The same goes for all Vehicle Code sections. I can guarantee we don't have quotas, but that's not to say that our Sergeants don't expect us to right a certain number of tickets a month.

You don't have to worry about me writing you a ticket. I'm going to graves next month. My priority will be hookin' dueces (arresting DUI's). I'm sure everyone can agree no verbal warnings there.

Build your speed on the shoulder and merge in when it's safe.

 

Explain This: "click It Or Ticket..."
California's New Motto On Safety Belts. "no Warnings Will Be Issued"
Thats Great! Intead Of Giving A Warning And Having The Same Affect As A Money Sucking Ticket, They Are Going To Pocket Every Last Cent To "protect Us From Our Own Choices"..if I Want To Drive Without A Belt And Risk My Life(mind You I Would Not) Then I Should Be Able To. Next They Are Gonna Ban Smoking Cigarettes! This Is Supposed To Be The Land Of The "free", And Home Of The Brave... Freedom Is About Choice!
Traffic Cops Are A-holes...not To Say That They Are Unnecessary, But They Just Have The Wrong Attitude When It Comes To Protecting Us...remember The "hall Monitors" In Elementary School? They Are Now Patroling Our Streets!

 

Are people really this thick? Do they really think they live in a vacuum? Everyone knows the laws and everyone's actions on the road has an impact on someone besides themselves. It doesn't matter if you're alone on the road at the time or not. If you choose to go your own way and disregard the law, too bad for you when you get caught. Rolling stop signs, speeding, street racing, pi$$ing behind a restaurant, flashing your neighbor, holding up the Circle K, whatever. Why is that whenever someone gets caught doing something wrong today it's someone else's fault? (they had a bad childhood, they were being medicated, they had ADD, they were bullied, they didn't have any friends, cops are jerks, blah, blah, blah, ad nauseam)

Cops have one of the crappiest jobs there is - they get to deal with people who break the law and then whine like little bi7ches when they get caught. The attitudes in this forum are likely the same ones non-verbally communicated when the cop stops you. No wonder you get tickets.

Cops in Corpus give Public Intox tickets faster than you can snap your fingers just to get mouthy punks out of their face. I don't blame them. It's a well known fact, doesn't matter if you've been drinking or not. I love it. If a cop tells you to shut up as he deals with an offender and you don't pipe down - enjoy the ride in the back of the car. It cracks me up. Nowadays cops don't know who is going to support them and who is going to pull a gun on them - I don't blame them for being strict and stern. If I had to deal with a mostly ungrateful public all day, I'd probably be edgy too. If they come to your house and shoot the guy getting ready to rape your wife they're your best friend and you can't thank them enough. When they bust you for speeding, all of a sudden they're ******? Can't have it both ways.

My favorite threads here are the "I got a 90 in a 60 ticket (or whatever) - how do I beat it?" When you review the poster's history you usually (but not always) see threads about racing, launch techniques, mods, "how doez I getz mo horsepowers." etc. One goes with the other - check it, you'll be surprised. Or not. There's a difference between getting a ticket for 48 in a 45, and 80 in a 40 like someone was talking about here the other day.

Profiling is now a part of America - like it or not. When you go to the airport you get searched a million times before you get to the loading airway. It's very inconvenient but after 9/11 everyone sees it as part of the price you pay to be safe. (whether it works is another thread). Driving on the highway isn't any different. You know the law. If you break it and get caught (which for most of us is about 1 out of about a billion times) shut up and take your medicine and try to better next time. What's so hard?

 

Well put GW, but unfortunately I don't think it will get through to people like HOO-MAN. I'll never get this attitude of passing the blame. Everything is always someone elses fault. You do something wrong and get caught so the cop is a *****. When more people start taking responsibility for their own actions this world will be a much better place.

 

Hey chippie, it's nice to have a different point of view in threads like this. Someone here that actually writes the tickets that everyone complains about.

 

I guess the quota thing is true, I always knew it was true, they might not have a policy on it but this type of thing is usually inferred and off the books anyways: link

 

Do you really need to ask that question? You've read the content on these forums. Yes, people are truly this obtuse.

I'm all for questioning the law. Great leaders in civil rights movements did it and made changes. But they never whined about being punished. They took their punishment when they broke the law like responsible adults. Anyone here who wants to whine over tickets and attempt to escape culpability when they know they've broken the law is a coward, bottom line. You're supposed to fight tickets because the officer was in the wrong, not because you've decided to perceive your being caught as police corruption.

 

Sonofsnood,

I can only speak for my agency, so I don't know how things are done in NY. We don't have quotas. In my opinion, with quotas, if you are short on tickets for the month, you start writing bogus tickets and wind up going to court alot. It's counterproductive. You spend more time it court than out on the road providing in view patrol. Besides, we write a lot of tickets out of crashes. People don't have insurance, driver's licenses, proof of registration, etc. So we get a lot of tickets that way, too. Not just sitting at a stop sign that we know everybody runs.

 

god, some of you people are whiney bit_hes. If you are over the speed limit, you are breaking the law. It is not the cops fault you did it dumbass. Granted, nine times out of ten you can go up to 10 miles over the speed limit and not get a ticket. In my father's department, they dont write tickets for under 15 miles over ususally. Why?? because they dont have to. There are more than enough people going more than 15 miles over the speed limit on residential streets that they concentrate on. Now, I am not saying I dont speed.....got a ticket a couple months ago for 91 in a 65....cop was pretty cool, he wrote it for 85 in a 65 so I didnt have to go to court (over 20 we HAVE to go to court here - over 30 you automatically loose your liscense). Did I whine about it on here like you other fools? no, I got my traffic lawyer, paid him $40 to go and get my ticket reduced to a non-moving violation and pay an increased fine of $160. So my total was $200. Just pay it and move on with life. Some of you have all this hate and angst toward cops. Just respect them...someday you might need them.

 

I used to roll through stop signs. That is, until I moved into my current house 3 years ago. We live on a corner in a residential area, and that corner has a stop sign.

Since I've been there, I couldn't count how many times people have slammed through that sign, either going straight or turning. Some people "roll" through the sign as well, but it's still dangerous. Let's face it, most of the time that you roll through a stop sign, you've already mentally decided to commit to the roll-through well before you actually arrive at the stop sign. How can you do that with any confidence of safety.

This has really gotten to be a big deal to me. I've got an 8 year old son with autism. Sometimes he plays in the yard. While he knows not to set foot outside of our yard without supervision, I know it's going to happen some day. And if he gets hid by someone "rolling" through the stop sign, I'm going to be a convicted murderer. 'Nuff said.