We just enjoyed a holiday weekend, which of course meant the roads were packed with cars, trucks and vans, trailers, RVs and boats all headed up to the mountains to enjoy three whole days of play. And of course, they were joined with the inevitable array of law enforcement officers, gleefully seizing the opportunity to write a few hundred tickets – oh I’m sorry, I mean to keep the roads safe.
There are two definite schools of thoughts when it comes to the police presence on our highways. Those who believe they perform an invaluable service by discouraging speeders, drunks and dangerous drivers and others who think this is nothing more than an exercise in tax collection. I’m with the latter.
My dislike of traffic cops began at an early age when, as a comparatively law-abiding citizen, I was harassed to the point of comedy by the local fuzz. I initially got on their bad side by having a problematic tail light, which went out repeatedly despite the best efforts of me, my Dad and several repair shops. We eventually resolved the matter but not before I’d been pulled over a dozen or so times by enthusiastic cops looking to make a name for themselves by busting a high profile case like this.
Even once the tail light was functioning reliably, the pullovers didn’t stop. My car was now in the database and every time I drove, particularly after dark, I could pretty well guarantee to be stopped by every cop that saw me. In the two years or so I drove that car, I was probably pulled over 40 or 50 times and I’m happy to say I never once received a ticket. But they tried, oh boy did they try. I never drank so much as a single beer if I was driving and the car struggled to break the speed limit anyway, but I had cops checking the tread on my tires, pushing the car backwards to check the parking brake, and one even crawled underneath to check the rust level of the chassis. It must have been very disappointing for them.
I’ve lived in the US for eleven years now and while the level of police interest is nowhere near as high as in my younger days, I’ve still had more than my share of roadside chats. These have been over such major offences as driving 60mph on a 55mph freeway, having a cracked taillight (which I had to get down on my hands and knees to see) and having license tags expired by 2 days. I will admit I’ve received tickets which were justified, almost all for speeding but for the most part, I’ve been pulled over by bored, under worked cops simply justifying their existence by taking some of the pleasure out of mine. So when I see a highway laden with cops, such as 285 was this weekend. I retain a somewhat healthy cynicism over the idea that they’re doing this out of some kind of altruism.
The police departments here, like everywhere else on the planet are constantly crying poverty when it comes to explaining why crime detection rates are so poor. The manpower isn’t there when it comes to tracking robbers, rapists and burglars. Yet show them a motorist driving a few miles an hour over the speed limit and miraculously, there are three squad cars available to handle it. Now as I’ve been told, highway patrol and crime detection are two different branches of the department, I’ll accept that. Yet there’s something inherently wrong when the police officers responsible for chasing real criminals don’t have the money to do so, while traffic cops have a seemingly endless supply of funding.
It’s not simply squad cars that they need. On SR285, the road with which I’m most familiar, it’s common to see hapless motorists sitting glumly on the shoulder while being written a ticket by some hot shot sitting in an unmarked police vehicle. To my knowledge, there are at least three pick ups, one SUV and multiple sedan cars doing duty as undercover ticket generators. Now you don’t exactly have to be Sherlock Holmes to catch speeding motorists in the first place, so why is it necessary to use a disguise? After all, if, as we’re told, the purpose of a heavy presence is to encourage safer driving, wouldn’t it make more sense for the police to advertise their presence rather than hide it?
Which also leads to the question; if the purpose of the traffic cops is to inspire safe driving, why do they only seem to be concerned with speeders? Yes, we all know excessive speed is a factor in most accidents. However statistically, other dangerous practices such as tailgating, aggressive driving and simple inattention cause more. Yet when was the last time you heard of someone receiving a ticket for tailgating? I never have. Could it just be that speeders are easier to catch, or is it that this carries a higher fine?
The fines may indeed be the key. Although Park County is one of the largest in the nation (considerably bigger than the state of Rhode Island for example) it has a comparatively small population and with no businesses of any size, the tax base is extremely low. Which means the Park Country Sheriff’s Department relies largely on revenue from traffic tickets for their income. Compound that by the fact that the majority of Park County residents inhabit the area on the extreme eastern edge and you find that a short stretch of highway receives a greater police presence than any high crime district in the metro area.
On Friday I counted 5 police vehicles in less than 5 miles of SR285. There may have been unmarked cars there too, I don’t know. Were they keeping the highway safe? Arguably, although given the number of accidents reported, that claim is somewhat dubious. Given that this is the busiest traffic weekend of the year and understanding the opportunity for revenue enhancement, I’m inclined to think they were there for other reasons.
It would have been an interesting experiment to have called the cops on Friday to report a burglary or a bicycle theft, just to see what level of attention this would have received. I’m willing to bet the phrase “nothing much we can do” would pop into the conversation at some point. Not enough manpower, see?
And if any law enforcement officers happen to be reading this; let me just say here and now, “I don’t drive a car. Nope never. Not me. Sorry, I walk everywhere. Keep up the good work!”
There are two definite schools of thoughts when it comes to the police presence on our highways. Those who believe they perform an invaluable service by discouraging speeders, drunks and dangerous drivers and others who think this is nothing more than an exercise in tax collection. I’m with the latter.
My dislike of traffic cops began at an early age when, as a comparatively law-abiding citizen, I was harassed to the point of comedy by the local fuzz. I initially got on their bad side by having a problematic tail light, which went out repeatedly despite the best efforts of me, my Dad and several repair shops. We eventually resolved the matter but not before I’d been pulled over a dozen or so times by enthusiastic cops looking to make a name for themselves by busting a high profile case like this.
Even once the tail light was functioning reliably, the pullovers didn’t stop. My car was now in the database and every time I drove, particularly after dark, I could pretty well guarantee to be stopped by every cop that saw me. In the two years or so I drove that car, I was probably pulled over 40 or 50 times and I’m happy to say I never once received a ticket. But they tried, oh boy did they try. I never drank so much as a single beer if I was driving and the car struggled to break the speed limit anyway, but I had cops checking the tread on my tires, pushing the car backwards to check the parking brake, and one even crawled underneath to check the rust level of the chassis. It must have been very disappointing for them.
I’ve lived in the US for eleven years now and while the level of police interest is nowhere near as high as in my younger days, I’ve still had more than my share of roadside chats. These have been over such major offences as driving 60mph on a 55mph freeway, having a cracked taillight (which I had to get down on my hands and knees to see) and having license tags expired by 2 days. I will admit I’ve received tickets which were justified, almost all for speeding but for the most part, I’ve been pulled over by bored, under worked cops simply justifying their existence by taking some of the pleasure out of mine. So when I see a highway laden with cops, such as 285 was this weekend. I retain a somewhat healthy cynicism over the idea that they’re doing this out of some kind of altruism.
The police departments here, like everywhere else on the planet are constantly crying poverty when it comes to explaining why crime detection rates are so poor. The manpower isn’t there when it comes to tracking robbers, rapists and burglars. Yet show them a motorist driving a few miles an hour over the speed limit and miraculously, there are three squad cars available to handle it. Now as I’ve been told, highway patrol and crime detection are two different branches of the department, I’ll accept that. Yet there’s something inherently wrong when the police officers responsible for chasing real criminals don’t have the money to do so, while traffic cops have a seemingly endless supply of funding.
It’s not simply squad cars that they need. On SR285, the road with which I’m most familiar, it’s common to see hapless motorists sitting glumly on the shoulder while being written a ticket by some hot shot sitting in an unmarked police vehicle. To my knowledge, there are at least three pick ups, one SUV and multiple sedan cars doing duty as undercover ticket generators. Now you don’t exactly have to be Sherlock Holmes to catch speeding motorists in the first place, so why is it necessary to use a disguise? After all, if, as we’re told, the purpose of a heavy presence is to encourage safer driving, wouldn’t it make more sense for the police to advertise their presence rather than hide it?
Which also leads to the question; if the purpose of the traffic cops is to inspire safe driving, why do they only seem to be concerned with speeders? Yes, we all know excessive speed is a factor in most accidents. However statistically, other dangerous practices such as tailgating, aggressive driving and simple inattention cause more. Yet when was the last time you heard of someone receiving a ticket for tailgating? I never have. Could it just be that speeders are easier to catch, or is it that this carries a higher fine?
The fines may indeed be the key. Although Park County is one of the largest in the nation (considerably bigger than the state of Rhode Island for example) it has a comparatively small population and with no businesses of any size, the tax base is extremely low. Which means the Park Country Sheriff’s Department relies largely on revenue from traffic tickets for their income. Compound that by the fact that the majority of Park County residents inhabit the area on the extreme eastern edge and you find that a short stretch of highway receives a greater police presence than any high crime district in the metro area.
On Friday I counted 5 police vehicles in less than 5 miles of SR285. There may have been unmarked cars there too, I don’t know. Were they keeping the highway safe? Arguably, although given the number of accidents reported, that claim is somewhat dubious. Given that this is the busiest traffic weekend of the year and understanding the opportunity for revenue enhancement, I’m inclined to think they were there for other reasons.
It would have been an interesting experiment to have called the cops on Friday to report a burglary or a bicycle theft, just to see what level of attention this would have received. I’m willing to bet the phrase “nothing much we can do” would pop into the conversation at some point. Not enough manpower, see?
And if any law enforcement officers happen to be reading this; let me just say here and now, “I don’t drive a car. Nope never. Not me. Sorry, I walk everywhere. Keep up the good work!”
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