I’ve experienced it, so have drivers in almost every city in the United States, and we all know it even though they always deny it. What is it? Quotas for traffic violations. Ever since this economic collapse has hit us, governments are finding wondrous ways to (i) raise revenues by issuing more traffic tickets and (ii) have created a boon to auto insurers who get to raise their rates, not because drivers are worse, but because more tickets are being issued!
Back on January10, 2009, FoxNews.com set the game that is being played in almost every state and town in the union: “In California, the cost of a ‘fix-it ticket’ nearly tripled on Jan. 1, meaning that drivers in the Golden State can pay up to $100 for having a broken headlight — an infraction that didn't even garner a citation years ago. A bill approved by the state Legislature raised fix-it fines to $25 from $10 and hiked surcharges on regular traffic tickets by $35. Parking tickets and court costs to attend traffic school also increased, by $3 and $25 respectively.
“Motorists in Pensacola, Fla., saw fines for parking in front of a fire hydrant or in a fire lane skyrocket from $10 to $100 — a 900 percent increase — after the city's Downtown Improvement Board reportedly unanimously approved the hike earlier this month. Statewide, speeding fines also increased by $10 this month, along with an increase of an additional $25 for exceeding the speed limit by 15 to 29 miles per hour.” Here in LaLa Land (aka Los Angeles), ticket prices have doubled and in some cases tripled.” We’ve got traffic officers walking down the street with hockey sticks measuring distance from the curb, checking out which way your wheels are turned on a hill, even one with only a slight grade, and radar officers pulling over entire blocks of moving cars – as folks generally tend to “keep up with traffic” – and giving every driver on the road a ticket (I can attest to being part of this nasty trend).
But they don’t have quotas now, do they? Well… finally, the common man driving the common car, has proof. It seems that someone made a secret recording in New York City, a Brooklyn police station to be precise, and what is on that tape is very interesting. The NYPD is one of those “quota deniers,” so this little tape is very pleasing to the ear. Lying cops is always news!
The New York Times (September 9): “On the tape, a police captain, Alex Perez, can be heard warning his top commanders that their officers must start writing more summonses or face consequences. Captain Perez offered a precise number and suggested a method. He said that officers on a particular shift should write — as a group — 20 summonses a week: five each for double-parking, parking at a bus stop, driving without a seat belt and driving while using a cellphone…. ‘You, as bosses, have to demand this and have to count it,’ Captain Perez said, citing pressure from top police officials. At another point, Captain Perez emphasized his willingness to punish officers who do not meet the targets, saying, ‘I really don’t have a problem firing people.’…
“At one point in the new tapes, [Deputy Inspector Steven] Mauriello introduced Captain Perez, who the supervisor said was second in command, as someone who ‘wants his summonses.’… ‘They’re counting seat belts and cellphones; they’re counting double parkers and bus stops,’ Captain Perez said, referring to types of low-level summonses typically tracked by the department’s TrafficStat program. ‘If day tours contributed with five seat belts and five cellphones a week, five double-parkers and five bus stops a week, O.K. .. “Your goal is five in each of these categories, not a difficult task to accomplish on Monday,’ he added. ‘If it’s not accomplished by Monday, you’ve got to follow up with it on Tuesday. But there’s no reason it can’t be done by Thursday. So whatever I get by Friday, Saturday, Sunday is gravy. I’m not looking to break records here, but there is no reason we should be losing this number by 30 a week.’” Feel better? The truth is out! I sure do.
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