Cops have problems too

New York City is keeping a closer eye on how its officers perform in court. The city is in the midst of a scandal that suggests officers fixed tickets by not showing up in court or by performing poorly in the courtroom.

10 more cops in Los Angeles sue the department, alleging quotas. Could they be inspired by the two of their brethren who earlier won $2 million from the city on this charge?


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Cops admit quota

Each Gary, Indiana police officer is required to write 10 traffic tickets per shift.

Oddly, the police department's web site is down. Guess they're not taking any questions on this one.

The department has 296 officers. Supposing that 1/2 of them are out there writing traffic tickets on any given day, that's 1,480 tickets a day. Do that year round and it's 540,200 tickets. The problem is, Gary only has 80,294 people.

So either every woman, man and child in Gary gets almost 7 traffic tickets a year or tourists watch out!

At least one prosecutor believes this is going to make it tough to get jurors to believe cops on criminal trials. You think??

Lila, in this Sunday comic is looking for a traffic ticket.

People start lining up at 5 am to get into the Alameda, California courthouse.


Image courtesy of Simon Howden

DUI checkpoints expensive -- $2,800 to arrest each driver

Two traffic officers win $2 million in court from the Los Angeles Police Department. They'd broken the silence and said there was a daily quota of 18 traffic tickets a day for motor officers on the city's Westside. They alleged the department retaliated against them for this revelation. The jury agreed.

Update: 4-15-11: The chief of the LAPD still insists he has no quotas and wants to appeal the verdict. (Please! Give me more bad publicity!)

Update: 4-17-11: One attorney wonders if all the traffic citations written under the quota system will need to be dismissed.

Slowing down to get a good look at an accident may be a violation in Ontario, Canada, this article says.

Lots of devices interact with the Iphones and Ipads to warn of red-light cameras, speed traps, schools and DUI checkpoints. Not sure how much attention you're going to pay to the warning if you're plastered.

DUI checkpoints, by the way, aren't there to catch drunk drivers. In Costa Mesa, CA, for example, less than 1% of the cars stopped at checkpoints have intoxicated drivers. California made only about 2% of its drunk driving arrests at DUI checkpoints in 2008.

The real secret to the checkpoints is federal funding--$14 million to California in 2008. That's about $2,800 per driver arrested. Strike you as pricey?

Update: On April 28, 2011, Martinez, California police ran a 3 hours DUI checkpoint. They talked to 503 drivers and nabbed one drunk driver. That's 2/10 of 1%. Is it possible if all the cops at the checkpoint had been driving around for 3 hours, they might have seen more than one intoxicated driver?

Find more information about traffic tickets at How to Beat a Traffic Ticket: The Six Steps Guide. Available for just 99 cents from Kindle or Nook. Or instant PDF download